Win Safari and the NetDoom Cult
by Timuu-kun
Summary: Supposedly set about 25 years after the conclusion of MMBN6, this is a fully-fledged 60,000 plus word novel that builds upon the Megaman.EXE universe. Original story and characters, but follows many of the Megaman conventions. A few Megaman.EXE cameos.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Win Safari and the NetDoom Cult

A Novel/Work of Fan Fiction. By Timuu-kun.

Chapter 1: Introduction to the 41st Century

Hey! I'm Win Safari, and I'm gonna give the intro to this story. Yeah, I know that this guy Timuu-kun wrote the book, but I'm gonna give the intro, OK? Soooo…It's 4000 now, and things have changed. Like, the internet; that's changed a lot. In the world I live in, everything's connected by this huge network that connects everything. Like, I mean, EVERYTHING! And that includes people, too. Everyone now has these cool little black headbands called "Pulse Bands," which let us "pulse in" to the internet whenever we want, wherever we want. Oh, and the net is now virtual reality. I probably should've mentioned that before. Yep, nowadays, instead of just viewing the internet, we're a _part_ of the internet. We actually feel what's going on in the net, because the Pulse Bands screw with our brainwaves and make us feel things. Like, for instance, if we're watching a movie or the news or whatever, we actually are a part of the movie: we not only see it, but we can touch things in it, we feel the heat and cold, we smell parts of it…yeah, it's pretty sweet. Really realistic. Of course, you lose all contact with your body while on the net, but hey, give-and-take, right?

So, to get around on the net, we all have Navigator programs in our pulse bands. Basically, it just puts your body right into the internet, so that you can walk around and chat with other people…pretty much whatever you want. Kinda like an avatar on steroids. But the Navigator is way cooler than your real body, because you can customize it! You can buy it clothes, armor, nightvision glasses, rocket-powered shoes, whatever you want (if you have the NetCash). Like mine, for instance. I'm pretty scrawny, but my Navigator is this huge muscle-man with awesome glowing turquoise-and-red armor and rocket-powered shoes. He's still got my face and my personality, but he's incredibly strong! Like, nobody can beat him. That kind of strong.

That's another thing. Even cooler that walking around on the net is the NetBattles that you can have with your friends. If you all agree to it, you and a bunch of your friends can link up Pulse Bands and fight it out in awesome cyber battles. The goal there is to frag the other guy until he's deleted, but nobody does it by just brute force: you've gotta have Battle Drives. But I'm getting ahead of myself; lemme explain. Battle Drives are a NetBattler's tools/arsenal/weapons…you get the point. All they really are are tiny little SD Cards which you download to your Pulse Band, but on the net, they have a billion uses. There are swords, cannons, shields…you think of a weapon and there's a battle drive of it. Anyway, you use them against the other guy and try to frag him enough to delete him before he frags you. Pretty simple; kinda like a wrestling deathmatch with awesome glowey weapons. Of course, some Drives are more expensive than others, but it's the strategy in the battle that really counts. You have to think about what elemental type your opponent is: if he's got turquoise armor with red undertones like mine, he'll be strong with earth and water, but weak against fire. So, you have to use the right battle drives: fight fire with water, and water with electricity, and electricity with earth…that sort of thing. Like Pokémon. Sorta…at least, the element parts. Ok, just forget the Pokémon.

Of course, all this awesomeness has a price. Even though there is no war anymore (because all the world is led by one government, as of 2500), there are still hackers and jerks that write viruses to screw with the net. But, because the net is so important, these stupid viruses are a big threat. Sometimes they can be pretty harmless; they slow down web sites or open billions of popup windows or obnoxiousness like that, but they can also really mess up websites and possess or delete navigators. So, just about everyone is trained in "virus busting" these days. "Busting" or deleting a virus is a lot like battling a Navigator: you use your Battle Drives to frag and delete the little sons-of-b***ches. Only thing is, it can get pretty dangerous: you don't pulse out automatically if you get critically damaged while battling a virus like you do when battling a friend, so if you get in over your head and try to bust a huge virus, your navigator could get deleted. And you know what that means…yep: thousands of Zennys in customizations and armor and awesome illegal mods…(er…forget that last one…heh heh) down the drain in the blink of an eye. Oh, and until you get a new one, you can't browse the internet either, which is pretty bad in today's world.

Ok, I'm being tapped on the shoulder by Timuu…*wait up, man, I'll finish in a sec.* Ahem… he wants me to stop talking now. Needs to get down to the "_real story_" he says. Yeah, prepare yourselves for one awesome story told by one less-than-awesome nerd, people. Err…don't tell him that I said that… Any-schwe, I'll turn it over to my main man Tim now, who will take you back to my 8th grade year. Man, middle school sucked for me, and you're about to see why. Just picture in your heads a cloudy Monday morning in Server City; the city to replace New York City as the most densely populated city in the former United States. It's 7:45 am and I'm conked-out-dead-asleep at home…


	2. Chapter 2: Awakening in Server City

Chapter 2: A Sleepy Awakening in Server City

Beep... Beep...

A flicker of consciousness...

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Blurred images of a dirty room...

Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep...

Clearer images: Clothes piled so deep on the floor that the room looks like a rolling landscape of shirts and pants and undergarments. School supplies and chips spread across a brightly colored desk, dented and defaced. A single destroyed DigiPen dangling weakly by one circuit from a night-side table. More beeps... rustling... then darkness again; tight, squeezing darkness.

ZAP! ZAP!

Electrical jolts coursed through the foam mattress and Win Safari sat bolt upright, tingling on his backside from the wake-up jolts that had been hard-wired into his bed. His holographic alarm clock was still beeping, the holographic image pulsing red in time with the beeps. Win rubbed his bloodshot eyes and swiped a sleepy hand through the pulsing spherical 3D rendering of a digital clock. Upon sensing a disturbance in the projection patterns, the hologram immediately returned back its normal lightly pulsing white glow, the beeping abruptly ceasing along with the red pulsation.

As Win rubbed his backside, his mom's three-dimensional, perpetually exasperated face flickered to life courtesy of the built-in holographic terminal in Win's dented, bright orange desk on the other side of his room from the bed.

"Are you finally up yet?" her disembodied head said to the sleepy boy.

"No, I'm dead tired. I hate you for installing those stupid shock coils in my freakin' bed!" Win yelled testily back at the hologram.

Win's mom might have looked aghast under normal circumstances had she not been used to this type of impertinent speech from her son when he was tired. Nevertheless, she said back "Watch your language, Win. That Pulse Band is not permanently secured to your head, and I might have to confiscate it if you keep disrespecting your parents."

"Yeah, right..." Win muttered.

"Excuse me?" the head snapped back pointedly.

"My pulse band is a necessary implement for school, and you can't realistically confiscate it," Win said back with an arrogant affect.

"Touché..." Win's mom said, pausing momentarily. "Page has been here for a while now, and you have exactly fifteen minutes to get to school," the head continued. "You'd better not keep her waiting much longer, Windows."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going, I'm going," Win responded testily.

The sleepy youth slouched out of bed and stood up. Windows Safari was a handsome-looking 13-year-old boy with long-ish brown hair that constantly suffered from some advanced form of bed-head. His frame was incredibly skinny and poorly developed in terms of muscle mass, as he spent many hours pulsed into the net, which provided very little exercise

Win's morning routine that day consisted of shoving his hand deep into the landscape of clothing and extracting a blue shirt, a baggy pair of beige pants, an orange vest, and his signature pair of HoverShoes (much like 21st century "Heelys" in function). He discarded his pajamas in the hole left in the mountain of clothes and sauntered over to a small, stainless steel capsule which looked like something out of science fiction. Win pressed a button, stepped in, closed the door, and emerged a minute later completely clean in body and garments. Grabbing his Pulse Band and Battle Drive folders on his way out of the room, Win stepped onto a moving conveyor which led him to the first floor of his house, with his mom and Page sitting at the kitchen table dead ahead.

"Win!" yelled Page Satellite in an exasperated tone. "You're late AGAIN!"

"And this is a surprise?" retorted the still-groggy Win.

"No," Page admitted, "but it doesn't help the fact that we're supposed to walk to school every day together."

"Nobody asked you to walk with me," Win responded, apparently sick of hearing the same speech from Page every day. "Why do you do it, anyway?"

"What a question!" Page said mockingly back. "Because we have so much to talk about, silly!"

"You mean you have so much to talk about. I just listen," Win said resentfully.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Page asked, clearly ignoring Win's last comment. "Now, snarf your breakfast and LET'S GO!"

"Mmph... Mmmph!" Win mumbled, crumbs of toast falling from his over-stuffed mouth.

And so it happened that Win set off on his customary walk to school with Page Satellite, Win's classmate and next door neighbor. Page's height surpassed Win by just about a head; that head being covered with a glossy, slick, flowing coat of red hair tied back in a pony tail. A glistening pair of blue eyes sparkled from within her face, lending her the appearance of a starry-eyed Anime character.

As they walked, (Page talking incessantly about a whole array of topics), Win secured the Pulse Band around his head and clipped his Battle Drive folders into an automatic folder manager (which obviated the need for physically inserting one drive at a time). When he had switched the Pulse Band on, his vision immediately went dark for a split second while the band accessed the various sections of his brain. When he could see the world once more, his optic nerve flared with several peripheral images which, together, acted as a mini-Heads Up Display (or HUD for short). As the E-mail icon of this HUD was flashing, Win sent a command in the form of a thought to the Pulse Band, telling it to open E-mail.

Almost instantaneously, an E-mail readout appeared in his left eye. Using his thoughts, Win navigated to the new E-mail and opened it.

"Huh..." Win said aloud.

"What?" Page said, stopping short in her monologue and turning her head towards him. Then, observing his left eye, she understood the source of the exclamation.

"Interesting E-mail?" she enquired.

"Yeah..." Win said, his visual focus still trained on the left eye. "NetNews says that student net crime in Server City is on the rise."

"Oh, well who could have caused that spike?" Page said mockingly.

"What?" Win snapped back.

"Who hacks the school server every day and goes off on the open net during the middle of class?" Page said, still mocking.

"Oh come ON! I don't hack the server every day..." Win said, faltering when he had realized that he'd talked himself into a corner.

"Excuses, excuses," Page said, looking back at Win as she began ascending the steps of the elevated MagLev MetroLine platform (MetroLine being the name of Server City's public transportation system). Win kicked his HoverShoes into gear and floated up the escalator ahead of page.

"Show off..." he heard her mutter under her breath.

When the two of them reached the top of the escalator, they were confronted by a row of turnstiles, all of which had a holographic image floating above them. The hologram would flash a green checkmark if a person was cleared for entry, and a red X should there be a problem. Most people in Server City had a yearly MetroLine Unlimited pass extension installed in their Pulse Band, which allowed instant access to the train platform when the turnstile's computer identified said pass. However, for the benefit of the tourists, every station did have a holographic ticket-dispensing kiosk (although the "ticket dispenser" gave no real ticket, but rather installed a one-time use MetroLine pass on the purchaser's Pulse Band). Students from kindergarten through college, however, were given free access to the MetroLine through their Pulse Bands, so the turnstiles admitted Win and Page immediately upon their approach. Local MagLev trains ran every 15 minutes, so Win and Page boarded a MagLev monorail almost immediately after their arrival, and were whisked away to their destination at speeds well over 500 mph.

The MagLev monorail glided smoothly to a halt at the Server City Middle School station, and Win and Page alighted to face the familiar sight of their school's extensive grounds.

Server City Middle School was a sterile, modern building of glass and steel if there ever was one. The main classroom section of the building was shaped like a giant glass cube, enabling one to see the entire layout of the building at a glance, and also everything happening inside the classrooms. All the rooms had polarized walls, however, so the teachers could dim the light in a room if they felt it necessary. Atop this gigantic cube was another smaller glass structure, shaped like a geodesic dome, which served as the auditorium for the students. On the artificially maintained green grass surrounding the cube, many of the students were engaged in conversation, huddled in little groups, some playing with miniature hologram projectors. Win and Page strolled across the lawn, oblivious to the various little groups, and headed for the entrance. Before they could reach the doors, however, an absurdly overstretched limousine hovercar cut them off. Unusual as such a car was, however, Win, in his usual dismissive way, wrote the limo off as another normal event of the school day. After all, he knew who rode in it.

The back doors of the limo opened silently and another boy Win's age tumbled out, obviously flustered. This boy was tall and stately looking, he had very traditionally styled brown hair with blue eyes, and he had a few light freckles on his face. He was dressed in an absurd looking (and absurdly expensive) maroon suit jacket and pants, a dark beige vest underneath, and an incredibly pompous, frilly white ascot in place of a tie.

"Win SA_FA__**RI!**_" Said this new boy, his inflection rising with every syllable.

"Unfortunately…" said an unaffected Win.

"Ummm… I'll leave you two alone for a while," said Page, shifting uncomfortably and making a slow exit.

"HOW DID YOU BEAT ME AGAIN IN THAT NETBATTLE LAST NIGHT!?" the irritated boy continued.

"Relax, Maxey, relax… I thought that you would've gotten used to losing against me," said Win to "Maxey," apparently the nickname of the enraged adolescent in the maroon suit.

"BUT I WAS USING ALL OF THOSE EXPENSIVE BATTLE DRIVES! HOW DID YOU BEAT ME?!" 'Maxey' continued, drawing so close to Win's face that the accused had to take a step back just to avoid being showered in spittle.

"True, those Battle Drives were expensive," Win continued when he had wiped his face, "but did you even tell your butler what types of Drives to get you?"

"No," Maxey admitted, "I just told him 'buy me some good, expensive battle drives.'"

"Exactly," Win said. "All the drives you used during the battle were defense and recovery drives, so none of them did any damage to me. My folder, on the other hand, was full of attack drives, so you were overpowered from the start."

Maxey looked down, shamefully regretting his outburst, and muttered "Oh…"

Win shrugged and said back, "Next time, why don't you hire a battling specialist to compose your folder with you? After all, I know your motto is 'Throw money at anything. It'll fix it.'"

"Yeahhhh… good idea! Thanks Win! Let's see, who's a world class battling specialist…" Maxey strayed off, muttering to himself.

Win whistled softly. "I guess money is no help in detecting sarcasm," he said under his breath.

And so, the two boys walked into their glass cube of a school building. The boy nicknamed "Maxey" was, in fact, named Maxmillion Edward-Sullivan Rechefski III, and was a direct descendant of one of the richest families on the planet. His family's riches came from their pet company, Hologo-Co, one of the first and largest holographic projector manufacturers in the world. As a result, Maxey had no limits on the amount of money available for him to spend, and consequently he viewed the world through the narrow eyes of a spoiled blue-blooded plutocrat. He and Win met through their Navigators on Server City's NetSquare, and after about five seconds of listening to Maxey's bragging about his expensive Battle Drive folder, Win challenged him to a battle and won. Even though Maxey had been distraught, the battle brought them close together, and soon the two were friends. Nevertheless, ever since Maxey had lost the battle to Win, he had constantly been on the lookout for new and effective strategies for beating his classmate. None of these said strategies ever worked, however, and as a result, Maxey's pride would almost constantly be wounded due to his crushing defeats at the hands of Win.


	3. Chapter 3: Server Trouble in Server City

Chapter 3: Server Trouble in Server City

Win and Maxey blasted through the double doors (literally blasted, as both boys wore HoverShoes) into the main cube of the school building. Five minutes were left before the start of school, so instead of socializing with the other students milling about the foyer, Win and Maxey headed straight for an express elevator platform headed to the 8th floor (each grade level had their own floor of classrooms. Page caught up with them at the last second, just before the neurological safety freezers kicked in (instead of having walls or doors, elevator platforms were just small, wall-less squares, guarded by special programs which were designed to freeze a person's brain momentarily, should they get too close to the edge).

"Hey Win, Maxey" she said, breathless from running to catch up with the elevator platform, which was now rapidly ascending. "Have you managed to stop fighting and become friends again?"

"Yeah, we have," Win said to her. "Although I didn't fight back. I just explained Maxey down."

"Whaddya mean?" Page asked, confused.

Maxey looked down in shame

"Win beat me in a Net Battle again last night, even though I had just bought a new battle folder." He explained.

"Well, that's no surprise," Page said, looking straight at Win with starry eyes. "Win's so great at Net Battling" she said, laying her head on Win's shoulder.

"Whoa, Whoa, WHOA!" Win said, stumbling back and activating the neurological safety freezers. When his brain recovered, Win continued talking:

"Too close, Page. And besides, wasn't someone insulting me earlier about the fact that I hack the school's server and use the net during class?"

"Yeah, well…" Page said, considering carefully what to say. "You just don't always use your skills for the best purposes."

"So?" said Win, shrugging. "What's the point in having talent if you can't have a little fun?" This comment received an icy stare from both Page and Maxey.

The elevator alighted on the 8th floor of the cube, and as the three friends walked to the back of the hallway to their corner classroom, Win's HUD flashed to indicate a new SMS. Win silently opened it and found a message from Maxey:

"If you would just conform the use of your Net Battling skills to fit within Page's 'standards,' she'd be wild about you."

Win sent an immediate reply: "In plain English, please."

He received his answer as the three were entering their classroom in the very top-left corner of the cube: "Never mind."

Class had almost started as Win found his seat in the last row. Before the bell rang, however, he received another SMS, this time from an Exabyte Lan, Win's right-hand neighbor in terms of desk arrangement and revered as a class bully. The message ran thus: "Win Safari! I challenge you to a Net Battle during lunch! You're going down this time!"

Before Win could reply to this affront, however, one of the scholastic-edition governmental security robots which constantly patrolled Server City's public schools floated up to Win, apparently in response to the newly received SMS.

"WIN SAFARI. NET BATTLING IN SCHOOLS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. CEASE AND DECIST," said the floating metal disc aloud. The robot brought giggles from the rest of the class.

"Oh, Puh-leeze!" Win said melodramatically. He sent a quick thought to his pulse band: "Pulse in: Win Safari execute! Transmit: nearest security robot," and began the pulse-in process immediately.

As he pulsed in, Win's vision blurred and morphed into strange colors and shapes, zeros and ones transmitting back and forth across his vision at blinding speed. Eventually, the amorphous mass of color solidified into the familiar layout of the internet.

Win's first cyberspace experience of the day found him standing on the small, surreal, digital plane that comprised the security bot's CPU. The ground in the digital world was metallic blue, and was crises-crossed with glowing green grid squares. Around him, great data towers, translucent and buzzing with zeroes and ones which housed the security bot's core data rose up around from the ground in an orderly fashion, like skyscrapers. There was no sky in cyberspace; instead, it was supplanted by a scrolling wallpaper (which, in the security bot's case, was black and had only the word "Security" repeating over and over again).

Just as the internet was wholly different from the real world, so too were its denizens. Win's Navigator form still contained his spirit, but the physical appearance couldn't have been more different than the real thing. The navigator, while still humanoid, was significantly taller than the real Win, and also considerably more muscular. The Navigator wore a glowing set of turquoise-and-red armour, the colors of which represented what it was good at defending against, and also what its weaknesses were (some Battle Drives had elemental codes, so a fire-based drive used on someone who was wearing wood armour would be twice as effective as a regular drive). In the case of Win's Navigator, the turquoise color represented that he was well defended against water and wood-style attacks, and the red signified his weakness to fire. Mounted on the navigator's feet were a pair of rocket propelled HoverShoes, much like the ones Win wore in the real world, only faster.

In the very center of the security bot's cyberspace floated a small cylinder of a radiant white hue, which distinguished itself from its surroundings by having an emoticon for a face, and by having the ability to speak through a voice synthesizer. This cylinder was the security bot's control program; if it were to be destroyed the robot would cease to function. As such, Win uploaded the battle drive for a "Galactic Bomb" (arguably the most destructive Drive on the open market) and rushed straight at the program. The cylinder's digital eyes grew wide and the emoticon face grew scared. The wallpaper in the cyberworld began to flash red, but before the program could scream for help, Win lobbed the Galactic Bomb straight into its screaming face.

The result was catastrophic. Instantly after the bomb detonated, a mushroom cloud of cyber-smoke rose up as the program shattered into millions of zeroes and ones. The subsequent shockwave from the detonation sent the data towers tumbling down one on top of the other like dominoes, and Win, seeing that his navigator was about to be squashed flat, pulsed back out to the real world just in time to see the metal disk of a security robot shudder and fall to the ground in a cloud of smoke.

Win got up from his desk, picked up the destroyed robot, and hovered on his shoes over to the classroom trash can near the front door. As he stooped down to deposit the robot in the garbage, however, an unexpected event occurred. The entire classroom began to applaud him spontaneously, with Maxey and Exabyte visibly clapping the loudest. Only Page, with her high moral standards, remained silent, her icy glare fixed on the surprised face of Win. The applause was, however, cut short by the unexpected addition of a person to the classroom in the form of Win's teacher, Ms. Micro.

"Sorry I'm late for homeroom…" she began. She stopped short, however, when the stooping figure of Win caught her eye.

"And just what are you doing, Windows?" said Ms. Micro, obviously perturbed. "What's in your hand?" she asked pointedly.

Win cringed and tried to stuff the crackling, smoking metal disk into the trash can, but Ms. Micro had it out of his hand before he could react.

She paused a moment, examining the metal disk. When she had realized what it was, however, her eyes widened and she shot Win one of the dirtiest looks he had ever seen.

"Okay, Windows, if you think that destruction of government property is a fun prank, you'll have a nice long detention with me this afternoon," she said, irate.

Before Win could vocalize a coherent excuse, however, Ms Micro's eyes took on an unsettlingly nasty glint.

"Actually, instead of that…" she said, smiling, "I had a virus deleting lesson planned for the class, but it can easily be changed into a Navigator deleting lesson. Listen up everyone," she began, directing her comments toward the student body in general. "For Win's punishment, you're all going to delete his Navigator. Pulse in, now."

The class fell silent as everyone pulsed in.

"That means you too, Win." Ms. Micro said.

"Whatever," he responded. "I can delete everyone in this class, no problem."

Before his teacher could check his remark, however, Win had already pulsed in and was facing all of his classmates' Navigators in the classroom training arena. This cyberworld was nicer than the one in the security robot; the floor was yellow with orange grid squares; the ground was scattered with cyber-trees (which were really the same as the data towers in the security bot's cyberworld, just with a better aesthetic), and the wallpaper resembled an actual sky. Win called out to all the other Navigators in the ring, telling them to all come and get him at once. Secretly, though, while he was putting on this show of bravado, Win had uploaded another Galactic Bomb to his navigator, and when all the other Navigators rushed him at once, Win lobbed the weapon into the fray and pulsed out fast.

As he returned to the real world, Win feigned that he heard a faint boom as smoke began to rise from the classroom mainframe. Almost immediately afterward, the students returned from the net along with Ms. Micro and stared at Win with shock on their faces.

Win looked apprehensively at his teacher, whom he expected to boil over with rage at any moment. However, to his pleasant surprise, her face and voice tone showed no asperity as she looked from Win to the class and said,

"Well, I guess we were all soundly beaten…" she paused. "Return to your seat, Win, and we'll begin the real virus busting lesson."

Win returned to his seat compliantly, and upon sitting down he received an SMS from Ms. Micro asking him to see her after class.

The lesson in virus busting drew on and on, and Win was forced to listen to a beginner's tutorial on how to upload and use Battle Drives, and how to delete viruses. Maxey, Page, and Exabyte's Navigators looked bored as well, since they all could NetBattle proficiently already (albeit they were not as good as Win). Win knew that Ms. Micro knew that this rudimentary lesson was torture for him to sit through, but some part of him knew that this was his _real_ punishment; more so even than having to face all of his classmates' Navigators at once.

After what seemed like an age, the electronic bell sounded on the internet, and Win pulsed out of the training arena as fast as his neurological impulses could transmit the message. His vision having been restored to the real world, he leaned over to Maxey to say something regarding to the next class. The comment got no response, however, and Win realized that his rich friend was still pulsed in.

"Come to think of it," he said, scanning the classroom, "everyone's still pulsed in. Very weird… I thought for sure that everyone would pulse out before the next class started." Win sent another neurological pulse to his Pulse Band: "Pulse in, Win Safari Execute! Transmit: classroom 8-A training area."

His vision blurred into the amorphous mass of color, and a horrifying sight awaited when the colors solidified.

The Navigators of his classmates were running wild around the training arena, apparently destroying it with their strongest Battle Drives. Several holes in the wallpaper were visible, as well as widespread destruction of the yellow pit in which the class fought their practice viruses. Win spotted Maxey's navi; a posh-looking program wearing a yellow and blue tuxedo with Maxey's signature frills in place of the customary bow tie. As he approached his friend's Navigator form, the handsome program loaded a FireSword Battle Drive and rushed straight at him. Win loaded a WaterSword Drive in enough time to parry the thrust, and while the two of them were locked in an X, he shouted to Maxey's Navigator:

"Maxey! What's gotten into you!? I'm your FRIEND! YOUR FRIEND!!!!"

"There are no friends in net society..." the Navigator said with a strange monotonous voice, his greatly oversized blue eyes glazing over as he talked. Win stared at him, dumbfounded.

"...There are only enemies! The net itself is an enemy! All hail the NetDoom Cult, and the destruction of the net!"

'The NetDoom Cult?" Win asked the hypnotized Navigator, obviously puzzled.

"Enough of this!" Maxey's Navigator said. "Time to delete you!"

"Not on your life, Maxey. I'll be back!" he said as he pulsed out.

The classroom came back into focus.

"NetDoom Cult... Phooey!" said Win, feigning a spitting action. "Nobody hypnotizes my friends and gets them to join some weird _Cult_! There must be a Navigator behind this, so I'll pulse into the school's central server and delete that son of a bitch!"

Win rushed to the door and attempted to fling it open, but not unexpectedly it was locked. However, a quick pulse in and a Galactic Bomb solved the problem nicely, and Win hovered into the cube's main atrium. He had no idea where the school server was located, yet he sped aboard an elevator platform and hammered the ground floor button. Again, the system was nonresponsive, so Win uttered an exasperated sigh, turned the hover jets on his HoverShoes to maximum strength via his Pulse Band, and jumped off the platform.

After an eight story drop, Win's shoes brought him to a safe landing on the ground floor. He surveyed the ground floor, looking for any clue as to where the server might be. Eventually, he decided upon heading for the administrational office, as his limited capacity for thinking in this time of action suggested that the server would be in the highest security area in the school. More doors barred his way in, and more galactic bombs removed those bars. By this time, Win had released so many galactic bombs into his school system that the school server had been catastrophically damaged. The wreckage was so widespread that school was probably going to have to be cancelled while a new server was ordered and installed. Win had no conception of how severely he was damaging his school, however, and as such he continued to speed down the administration hallway in search of the server.

Eventually, he found the room. In fact, the server room was hard to miss, due to the large glass monitoring windows in front of it and the high-security steel vault door which protected it. Nevertheless, no door locking program could withstand the fury of the Galactic Bomb, and Win easily made his way into the incredibly hot server room (hot due to the fact that Win's bombing had, among other things, disabled the air conditioning system). He rather gingerly approached the sleek black glass case housing the servers, which was now glowing red hot, and sent the pulse in command to his pulse band:

"Pulse in: Win Safari execute! Transmit: School Server."

Win' s Navigator found himself standing in a very hot cyberworld. Although the interface for the school server was usually cool, sleek black with a scrolling wallpaper that read "Server," this was not the cyberworld that the Navigator was now standing in. Due to Win's Galactic Bombing, the server's connections to many parts of the school had broken off, and the path to the main control panel was fragmented and destroyed. Additionally, cyber-fires had sprung up in various parts of the cyberworld, apparently fueled by the lack of air conditioning and subsequent overheating. As if this were not enough, various fire-based viruses were blasting away at the black data towers in the server cyberworld. Viruses, like programs, were one step below a Navigator, but one step above a random piece of data. Unlike programs, however, viruses were programmed to destroy whatever cyberworld they were introduced to. Viruses came in almost infinite varieties of sizes and shapes, but the ones attacking the server looked like large burning oil drums with floating flamethrowers for arms.

Win's navigator sweated and cringed at all of the fire-based hazards in his way, as he was weakest against the aforementioned element. However, as he knew that there was no other way to save his friends, Win gritted his teeth, loaded a WaterSword Battle Drive (his strongest water-based battle drive), and charged headfirst into the sea of flames and viruses.

One after the other, the fire-based viruses fell to the wrath of the WaterSword; the emoticon faces on said viruses changing from their usual expression of anger to one of fear as one after the other faced the netherworld of deletion.

Win, meanwhile, was trying in vain to reach the server control panel at the far end of the server cyberworld; a hard task, considering how incredibly badly he had fragmented his school's network. As he ran and slashed through viruses, therefore, he became engaged in a little internal dialogue:

"Okay, right here, then left, then… Yeowch!" Win narrowly ducked a flaming beam attack from one of the larger viruses. "Now, left, left again, then… Nope! Damn!" he yelled in exasperation as he reached a dead end in the form of a severed connection; the two sides of the remaining pathway blocked by an abyss. Viruses began mounting another attack, and Win was forced to back further and further towards the broken connection at which he had stopped.

"****, great. No way out!" Win's yelling became more and more hysterical as the viruses backed him even closer to the abyss behind him. In an act of desperation, Win crossed his fingers, blasted his rocket powered HoverShoes to full power, and triple-back flipped over the broken connection, landing on his head on the other side.

Several seconds of intense swearing ensued as Win's Pulse Band provided the sensation of acute cranial trauma. When Win could stand again, however, he mounted his offensive once more and continued down the pathway.

"Ok, keep going straight!" he said to himself. "Don't bother about the viruses, just keep going!" and then as an afterthought, "Please don't let there be any more twists and turns! Pleeeaase!"

No more twists were in store for Win, however, as it happened that the connection pathway he was following led straight to the control panel.

"Only a few more steps!" Win thought to himself as he neared the control panel. "That's weird, though." he said apprehensively. "I was almost sure that there must be a…"

A large blast of heat and sparks hit Win's sensitive turquoise armour as a new glowing red Navigator pulsed in directly in front of Win.

"…Navigator behind this." Win concluded weakly. As the glowing red Navigator solidified in front of him, Win's HUD flared in his cyber-optic nerve, telling him that his Navigator was highly fragmented; a few more direct critical hits would delete him.

"F***ing great," said Win as the Navigator finished materializing. "Just what I needed."

The glowing red navigator had fully materialized by this time, and he (or it could have been a she; Win couldn't see clearly with all the cyber-smoke) began to access the server control panel.

"Hold it right there!" Win screamed at the intruder.

The glowing red Navigator started and whipped around, blowing a whirlwind in the cyber-smoke as he turned.

"Who the hell are you?" it asked in a deep, dusky tone. "and mind you, you are in hell." it added as an afterthought.

"Oh, puh-leez! Spare me the lame lines!" Win said back sarcastically.

"How dare you call that lame!" The fiery Navigator's eyes began to glow red with rage.

"How dare you hypnotize my friends and try to get them to join some weird _cult_?!" Win responded back, his WaterSword at the ready.

The fiery Navigator suddenly looked pleased.

"Ahh… very good! Our recruiter Ms. Micro has performed admirably if what you say is true."

"Ms. MICRO?!" Win echoed, incredulous. However, when he paused to consider the glowing Navigator's statement, parts of it did make sense. Why else would Ms. Micro give Win so harsh a punishment as having the entire class delete his Navigator? Why would she have had such a malevolent glint in her eye while punishing him? And why did she not follow up with him after he had Galactic Bombed the training facility? Was it because she assumed that he would fall under the hypnosis as well?

While Win was contemplating these and other thoughts, the fiery Navigator conjured up a flaming broadsword and lunged at Win's Navigator. Win was just barely able to dodge by boosting into a jump with his rocket powered HoverShoes.

When he came down again, he turned to face the fiery Navigator and said to it,

"Oh, you like to play games, huh? Ok, let's play. And mind you, I'll win"

"We'll see," said the glowing Navigator.

And the two lunged for each other at the same time.

Sparks and water splashed on the floor of the black server cyberworld as the two Navigators sword-fought in the wide-open area around the server control panel. Throughout the fight, the fiery navigator would summon strong viruses to divert the heavily-fragmented Win from his target. However, to an ace-NetBattler like Win, the viruses were mere annoyances, only to fall under the wrath of the WaterSword. Eventually, Win had gotten the mysterious fiery Navigator locked in the classic and dangerous sword-fighting position of an X. Sparks and water flew and evaporated in clouds of cyber-smoke as Win pushed his sword towards the fiery Navigator with all of his digital strength.

"Poor, stupid boy…" said the Navigator. "You've lost this fight!"

Win's Navigator's eyes widened with fear and, sensing a threat, he secretly loaded a strong AquaShield Battle drive.

In one sudden movement, the fiery Navigator pulled out of the X, causing Win's Navigator to stumble. While he was stumbling, the fiery Navigator charged at Win, sword stretched out in front of him at full length, and Win had just barely enough time place the AquaShield around him. A large sphere of water began forming from Win's WaterSword, and Win braced for the worst.

The glowing Navigator's sword struck the shield, which instantly evaporated into steam. However, the shield was just strong enough to knock the Fiery Navigator off guard for one split second, and, seeing his chance, Win put his HoverShoes to good use and pinned down his opponent. The fiery Navigator fell over backwards as Win grabbed it by the neck, and before the second had finished, Win had his smoking opponent completely immobilized.

The fiery Navigator gasped large gasps of air as Win's hold around its neck tightened, and it begged of Win "Please… Please no!"

Dismissive as usual, Win retorted to his fiery opponent:

"I warned you that I'd win. Tell your NetDoom cult that Windows Safari is not to be toyed with!"

"The NetDoom cult will never fall!" the Navigator screamed. "Not to the hands of some KIIIDDDD!"

With this line said, Win slit the fiery Navigator's cybernetic throat.

The fiery Navigator let out a blood-curdling scream as its glowing red armour evaporated into steam. The body began to twitch violently, and eventually, the twitching ceased and the navigator shattered into millions of zeroes and ones.

Win wiped the cyber-sweat from his Navigator's fragmented brow, heaved a heavy sigh of relief, and gingerly approached the control panel of the school server. Almost immediately after hitting the button to stop all processes and executable programs, Win's navigator froze without warning. He turned to the HUD in his optic nerve for an answer, and found the following message:

"FATAL ERROR (CODE #110101110011010010) FRAGMENTATION LEVELS CRITICAL. PULSE OUT NOW"

"Damn fragmented programs…" Win cursed as he pulsed out.

Color and space faded into the familiar mish-mosh of the pulse transmission process, and Win re-entered his physical form at very long last.

He surveyed the scene around him, and it did not look good. The school server lay in smouldering, crackling ruins (a sight which made Win think back to the destroyed security bot), the lights were flickering, and all the electronics in the school were shut down. Anxious to see whether his friends were alright, Win kicked his HoverShoes into gear once again and sped into the school's foyer/atrium. He looked around for an elevator platform, but there were none to be found (as Win had gotten the last one stuck on the 8th floor). Seeing as there was no other way to get to the top floor, Win turned his HoverShoes up to full strength and jumped with all his might.

He never even cleared the first story.

"Oh, duh!" he thought to himself. "I'm not in the net anymore. My real shoes aren't rocket-powered"

Smacking himself on the head, Win proceeded to look for the stairs, but, as all the holographic indicator signs in the building were offline, this took some doing. Eventually, he found them and hovered up all eight flights and then ran straight to his classroom when he had alighted on the right floor.

As Win blasted into his classroom, thirty scared-to-death faces turned to him in fear, but after realizing who it was, they all let out a large sigh. More even than that, however, they cheered and clapped and whooped and hollered and generally made Win into a huge hero. Surprisingly, the loudest cheerer this time was Page Satellite, who had remained so stoical last time the class had decided to cheer for him.

"Geez…" Win said, surprised and a little confused. "Did I really do something _that _great?"

Maxey came to the forefront when he heard this incredibly clueless remark.

"Well, _**YEAH! OF COURSE!**_" he shouted.

"Really?" said Win, feeling gratified.

"_**YEAH, REALLY!**_ You just saved our lives, Win," said Maxey over the rising cheers. "For chrissake, Win, if that's not something great, then I don't know what is," retorted Maxey.

"An' yoo saved us from Ms. Micro, too." This remark came from Exabyte, who had been cheering in the foreground as well, and had heard the previous conversation.

"Ms. Micro!" Win said, remembering the fiery Navigator's statement. "Where is she?"

"See fer' your self" said Exabyte, retreating into the crowd momentarily and returning with a tied-up-and-gagged Ms. Micro, whose eyes flashed to Win a look of extreme hatred and loathing.

"Good work, Exabyte. I really owe you," said Win to the classroom bully.

"Aww, don' mention it. It was nuttin," said Exabyte with a wave of his hand.

Win turned to leave, but was stopped when Exabyte started talking again.

"But Win…" he began. "You still gotta NetBattle me, ya know!"

"Oh, that…" Win said, remembering the affrontery SMS he had received from Exabyte that morning. "Uhh… Exabyte, this may be a little hard for you to understand, but…" Win faltered, looking for simple words with which to explain his NetBattle in the server.

"Wat's wrong," Exabyte said, his bully's personality coming back to him. "You too chicken, Win? Too chicken to face my awesome Navigator?

"It's not that, Exabyte," Win began. "It's just…"

"Chicken!" Exabyte interrupted. "Chicken, Chicken, Chicken! Nyahh nyahh na-nyahh nyahh, Win's-too-chicken!"

Win heaved a huge sigh as the class rolled with laughter. And then, being dismissive, passive, nonchalant Win, he closed the discussion with a memorable line:

"Whatever…"


	4. Chapter 4: Eat, Drink, and Die Laughing

Chapter 4: Eat, Drink, and Die Laughing

As was only to be expected after Win's Galactic Bombing, school was cancelled for an indefinite amount of time while the government placed the order for entirely new server equipment for Server City Middle School. Win's little battle in the school server cost the world government millions in repair costs, but the fact that he had foiled a NetDoom Cult plot seemed to make up for it in the eyes of the world. Without school, Win did what was to be expected for a bored 13 year old boy: eat, drink, play on the internet until 3 or 4 in the morning, and sleep till noon. One day about halfway into the week of the break from school, however, Win's daily routine was disrupted by an unexpected communication.

Having stayed up extra-late the night before, Win had risen at 1 in the afternoon on this specific day, and was still in his pajamas at 3 when his optic-nerve HUD indicated that he had a new video message. Upon opening it, Win's Navigator found itself looking upon the pompous yellow-and-blue Navigator which could only belong to the one and only Maxmillion Edward-Sullivan Rechefski III.

The message the Navigator bore ran thus:  
"Greetings Win, Page and Exabyte. I hope that I find you all in the best of health tonight. I come bearing a proposition for you all; nay, an invitation to eat, drink and laugh tomorrow.

"What?" Win said to the recorded playback. "I wish that Maxey knew how to speak English sometimes…"

"Ok, Win, let me explain," continued the recording, as if it had anticipated Win's previous remark. "As you know, my father's company has recently built a new theme park: Hologo-Land."

Win tensed up with excitement. Hologo-Land was supposedly the largest and most advanced theme park yet to be built, and pre-opening reviewers had given it stellar ratings. According to NetNews, it had 16 roller coasters, a gigantic arcade, and a pirate ship ride that actually launched you off the mechanical arm and supported you with Hologo-Co's new patented hover-boosters (basically rocket boosters, but without the noise. They ran on very advanced, complex technology and were incredibly expensive). More impressive and revolutionary even than these rides, however, was an indoor battling arena, where it was rumored that a person could actually, physically assume the form of their Navigator in the real world via a gigantic scientific breakthrough patented by Hologo-Co, which could re-arrange the atoms in life-forms without killing said life-forms.

"Anyway…" the message continued, "the theme park is currently not open to the public, but since my father owns the company, I have four VIP preview passes."

Win punched his fist in the air, already visualizing riding all 16 roller coasters (minus the inevitable puking)

"…So, I invite you all to dinner at the five star restaurant _Ché Merd_ and to a sleepover afterwards at my house this evening," the message continued, "and then we'll all go to Hologo-Land together tomorrow. What do you say?"

A message box with a "yes" and "no" button popped up in front of the video.

"Absolutely yes!" Win said, commanding his pulse band to respond in the affirmative. "Oh man, I've got to get ready! There's the sleeping bag, the clothes, the money, and… Oh, crap, _Ché Merd_ has a dress code. HEY, MOM!!!"

Win rushed down the conveyor belt and into the kitchen, where he expected to find his mom. However, his mom was not the only person at the kitchen table when he arrived. Page Satellite was sitting at the table, talking to his mom.

"Oh, hi Win," his mom said. "Page has been telling me about Maxey's sleepover, and I've gotten everything ready for you." She said to the excited Win. "Oh, and…" Win's mom paused, surveying him, "put on some clothes; you're embarrassing yourself and Page."

Win looked down at himself in his two-sizes-too-small pajamas, which revealed a little too much of him for comfort. He put his hands embarrassedly over his slightly exposed midriff and ran out of sight, away from Page; apparently too embarrassed to even apologize.

About a minute later, he emerged in a shiny black tuxedo with tame hair for a change, and apologized weakly to Page:

"Sorry about that, Page… I guess you caught me living my home-life."

"No, really it's okay… I wasn't too embarrassed," said Page, trying very apparently to be friendly.

"Yeah, I rarely change out of my pajamas every day unless I have to go out, and even then, sometimes I just put on a sweater." Win continued speaking long after he should have stopped.

No amount of smiling could hide the fact that Page found these facts distasteful, but she saved face by saying that at least Win looked great now.

"Yeah, you look great too… I guess…" Win said back, faltering.

And in fact she did. Page had decked herself all out for their visit to _Ché Merd_. She was dressed in a flowing pink dress which resembled a delicate flower petal. She had also combed, brushed, and made her red hair look even shinier than usual, as she had let it down and allowed it to fall gracefully about her shoulders. On top of that, she had also augmented her already tall height by adding high-heeled shoes to her long legs.

After a short while, Maxey's absurdly overstretched limousine hovercar pulled up in front of Win's house (or one could really say Win and Page's houses both, since the limo was long enough to span the distance between the two). As Maxey's chauffer honked his horn, Page held out her elbow to Win.

"What am I supposed to do with that?" Win asked Page.

"Honestly, don't you know _anything _about how to treat a lady?" Page asked exasperatedly. "Link arms with me."

"Why?" Win asked, clueless to the point of being piteous.

Page rolled he eyes. "It's traditional for a boy to take a girl's arm and lead her to dinner."

"I think Maxey and his 'traditions' have had a bad influence on you," said Win, still withholding his arm.

"JUST TAKE MY ARM!" said Page in a raised voice, tired of Win's excuses.

"Okay, okay, geez!" said Win, apparently surprised about the outburst.

So, Win took Page's arm and descended the moving platform away from his house. As he and Page entered the limo, hand in hand, both Exabyte and Maxey whistled. Win sent an SMS to Page which read "See why I didn't want to link arms?!" Page didn't honor it with a response.

On their way to the restaurant, everybody bubbled with excitement about the new Hologo-Land.

"Are the rumors about the new battling facility true?" Win asked of Maxey. "Is there really a machine that can transform humans into their navigator forms _in the real world_?" he asked with awe in his voice.

"Even I don't really know," admitted Maxey. "With the NetDoom cult around, everything at Hologo-Co has been very hush-hush. My dad isn't allowed to talk about R&D projects to _anyone_. Not even his own family…" Maxey added resentfully.

"Well, if it's true," Exabyte began saying, "Then Win'll haf' to battle me. An' no chickening out a'gin, m'k Win?"

This comment brought light laughter from everyone in the car except for Win, as they all suddenly remembered the last day of school before the unintended break. Win did not laugh, however, because he had been forced to de-frag his Navigator for two whole days after that confrontation, and _that_ had not been a pleasant experience.

Eventually, the hovercar limo pulled up to _Ché Merd_, the famous snooty five star restaurant. Resembling of a 19th century French Chateau, (buildings which were now truly ancient history), _Ché Merd_ served only the highest-class clientele. A set of real fountains formed water-arches to the entrance as the four friends exited Maxey's limo and walked into the restaurant.

Although the restaurant had looked like a crumbling 19th century ruin on the outside, this was not the case for the interior. A large, beautifully lit dining room awaited the party of four, that dining room decorated with a moving panoramic wallpaper of the French Riviera, and a ceiling that looked like a dazzling night sky. Each table had its own holographic projector (provided, of course, by Hologo-Co) built into the bouquets of real flowers that served as centerpieces for each table. These holographic projectors provided holographic menus for the guests, and to improve efficiency, patrons only had to touch the selections on the holographic menu that they wanted to order, and that order would be transmitted straight to the kitchen; no need for waiters at all.

In the mean time, Maxey was, and had been for some time, talking to the Maitre D' of _Ché Merd_, who was apparently named Heinrich.

"Ahh, Monsieur Rechefski!" said Heinrich when Maxey approached. "I am, monsieur, _trés _honored to serve your noble family and friends yet again."

"Thank you, Heinrich. We'll be a party of four tonight" said Maxey with perfectly rehearsed dignity. Win, at this point, wondered how anyone his age could act as mature as Maxey was being.

"Of course, Monsieur…" Heinrich paused, surveying the group. "Ahem, Monsieur?" he asked respectfully.

"Yes, Heinrich, what is it? We're all more than slightly hungry, you know."

"Oui, Monsieur, Oui," responded Heinrich, "But I am afraid that I cannot allow one of the gentlemen in your party to be seated. He is in violation of our dress code." Heinrich pointed at Exabyte, who was the only one in the party that had not dressed for the occasion.

"Oh, please, Heinrich, we won't be bothering the other guests." Maxey said with a wave of his hand. "Just show us to the Château Suite like usual and Exabyte won't offend anyone."

Heinrich shifted uncomfortably and faltered in his speech.

"You _will_ show us to the Chateau Suite, won't you?" Maxey asked with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

"Ahem, monsieur, you see… well, the Chateau Suite is _occupied_."

"WHAT?!" Maxey shrieked, and Win covered his ears.

Heinrich shushed Maxey with his hand gestures. Maxey continued in a lower, yet still angry voice.

"The Rechefski family has _always _had access to the Chateau Suite in this restaurant. _ALWAYS!_ And now you tell me that the Chateau Suite is _OCCUPIED_?! You disgrace our family's name, Heinrich!" he said, growing red in the face.

The words stung Heinrich like bees. "No, monsieur, I assure you, we are still honored and delighted to serve your family. It's just that Ms. Veronica Worthingham arrived before you, and I felt obliged to give he Chateau Suite to her."

"Oh my God…" Maxey said quietly and incredulously. Then, to Heinrich he yelled. "You gave the Rechefski family room to the _WORTHINGHAMS!!!!!!!!!!" _Maxey screamed, absolutely aghast.

As if the screamed word "Worthinghams" was speak of the devil, the accused Veronica Worthingham descended from the upstairs private dining hall, the Chateau Suite. Ms. Worthingham was just two years older than Maxey, but she had the poise and grace of a lady in her twenties. She had long, curly locks of black hair, which framed a narrow, small face with narrow grey eyes. When her sharp gaze fell on Maxey's wide blue eyes, Win feigned that he saw a lightning bolt pass between their pupils.

"Heinrich," she said in a slow, calculated manner. "If you ever let a second rate family like the Rechefskis in this establishment again, you shall never again receive my patronage." Her voice was both deep and cold as she paid Maxey this ultimate insult.

Maxey turned a deeper shade of furious red. "I wouldn't be so quick to say that, Veronica, if I were you. Last time I checked, MY father's company was still the largest and most profitable manufacturer of holographic projectors in the world."

"We'll see," said Veronica coolly. "Oh, and Heinrich," she said, turning her head as she walked away, "Forget about any tip."

Heinrich's mouth opened and closed repeatedly, but no sound came out. The poor Maitre D' had been left so upset after this episode that he hardly knew what to say.

Maxey, having regained his composure, spoke again to Heinrich. "I believe the same will be true for the Rechefskis," he said. "If I ever catch you giving the Chateau Suite to an inferior family like the Worthinghams, I too shall never come back. Now, please escort us to _our _dining room, Heinrich. And make it snappy!"

The startled Heinrich muttered an "Oh, yes, of course," and hurriedly took the four friends upstairs. While in transit, Win leaned over to Maxey and asked the obvious question:

"What was that all about, Maxey? A little class warfare going on there?"

"Yes," Maxey responded, clenching his fists. "Veronica Worthingham is the daughter of the owner of Projecto-Co, another very wealthy manufacturer of holographic projectors. Her father's company is my father's company's largest rival. The only difference between the two corporations is that the Rechefskis beat the Worthinghams to being the first producer on the market, so people trust the Rechefskis more than the Worthinghams."

"But, let me guess…" Win said. "The Worthinghams have been badmouthing the Rechefskis ever since."

"Yes, there's bad blood there…" Maxey trailed, apparently still upset over the encounter with Veronica Worthingham. "The Worthinghams have been trying to upstage the Rechefskis in every way. Veronica's father recently built an exact copy of my house, the Worthinghams have taken up riding in limousine hovercars, and they are trying to force us out of our usual room in _Ché Merd._ That's why I was so upset with Heinrich."

Heinrich, who was still leading the party, tensed quite noticeably when his name was mentioned.

"But…" Maxey continued, his voice brightening. "Recently, we got the advantage on the Worthinghams."

"In the form of Hologo-Land, right?" Win asked, completing Maxey's thought.

"Yes. If the Worthinghams were to build a "Projecto-Land," it would become so blatantly obvious that they were copying the Rechefskis that surely the press would catch on and expose them for the second-rate copycats that they are. That's why I wanted to celebrate tonight, and that's why it shocked me so much to see Veronica Worthingham still acting so arrogant and conceited."

"I guess that's understandable," said Win out loud. However, he added "if you're rich and conceited to begin with." under his breath as an afterthought.

The rest of the night at _Ché Merd_ passed uneventfully. The food was wonderful, the service was prim and proper and fast, and Maxey seemed happy once again. Win, however, cared little about the dinner, exquisite though it was. He was already lost in his own little world, dreaming about the wonders of Hologo-Land; the roller coasters, the pirate ship ride, the arcade, and most of all, the advanced battling arena. Win, being an ace NetBattler was going crazy with anticipation; he honestly didn't think that he could wait an entire day to try it out. However, dreamy as the prospect of a machine that turned you into your Navigator was, Win felt a certain, cloudy felling of unease regarding the prospect. Something told him that technology like that was too prone to misuse, but he explained himself down all through dinner, and had thoroughly convinced himself that everything was going to be fine by the time that the party of four had finished dinner and gone back into Maxey's overstretched limo hovercar.

As said hovercar whizzed silently along on its Hover Boosters, the passengers still buzzed with excitement, but not about Hologo-Land. This time, the passengers wanted to know about Maxey's house, and what they would be able to do there.

"I've heard that it's a fabulous mansion!" Page said, her starry Anime-character's eyes gleaming.

"No, it's actually very modest… at least for us" Maxey said. Win could read his friend like a book, however, and knew that Maxey's "modest" was fabulous to 99.999% of the rest of the world. And such proved to be the case.

Maxey's mansion was a very old-looking building, whose architecture resembled that at _Ché Merd_. However, being a private residence, Maxey's mansion was considerably larger than the restaurant, as it covered about 15 acres of prime Server City realty. All of that space was filled with the mansion-house or its surrounding facilities, as Maxey's house had several full Olympic-sized swimming pools, as well as tennis and racquetball courts, a HoverKart racetrack (similar to a 21st century GoKart race track in function), and an extensive garden and menagerie. Inside, the house was decorated in a hybrid of ancient baroque style furniture, artwork, wallpaper and carpeting, mixed with modern holographic terminals and elevator platforms.

As the three non-native inhabitants of the mansion exited Maxey's limo (which hovered away into the mansion's extensive garage), they might have taken half an hour to just stand and admire the house. However, they were not allowed to do this, as one of the many butlers employed by the estate came forward from the house to greet the young master and his friends.

After a brief conversation between Maxey and the butler, in which Maxey told him to prepare bedrooms for all of his guests, the four were escorted into the main house. Even though the mansion was a complex labyrinth of hallways and corridors, Maxey knew exactly where to take his guests, and likewise escorted Win, Page, and Exabyte to their various rooms, where they found that their sleepover implements had already been sent up.

The rest of the night bears little explaining, as the four young teens did what was to be expected for four children turned loose in a gargantuan mansion. A huge and complex game of hide-and-seek happened at one point, at another all four went swimming, and at yet another point Exabyte challenged Win to a HoverKart duel and won. However, seeing as the entire party was headed to Hologo-Land bright and early the next morning, the three boys and girl turned in early and slept on the incredibly fluffy beds of their guest rooms for a full ten hours. At last, however, the big day dawned, and no shock coils were necessary to wake up Win Safari, who was overflowing with excitement by this time.

Having dressed in a flash, Win ran downstairs to find Maxey, intent on speeding up the process of leaving for Hologo-Land.

All three of his cohorts had beaten him to getting downstairs, he soon found.

"Late, as usual," Page said, assuming her familiar exasperated tone.

"Hey," Win said defensively, "This is early for me! And besides, I didn't even need shock coils to get up this morning."

"Oh, now _that's_ saying something," Page said mockingly.

"Well, I'm down now!" Win proclaimed to the world. "So, let's go! Call your limo, Maxey!"

"Hold on," said Maxey, holding up his hand. "We have to wait for my father."

"Why?" Win whined. "Why do we have to wait up for your old man?"

"It's for posterity's sake," Maxey explained. "This is the first time that the park will be opening for the VIP's and their kids, so father intends to give a speech."

Win opened up his mouth to protest against the speech idea, but Maxey anticipated him and said,

"Don't worry, I persuaded him to keep it short."

Satisfied on this point at least, the highly impatient Win found himself with no choice but to wait for Maxey's father, the esteemed owner of Hologo-Co, to ready himself for his public appearance.

An eternity passed.

And then another.

And then another on top of that.

In point of actual fact, the party was only kept waiting for five minutes, but to Win it felt like time was standing still. However, after the five-minute interlude, the esteemed owner of Hologo-Co, Maxey's father Giovanni Rechefski made his entrance.

"It's high time…" thought Win to himself as he surveyed the person now descending on the elevator platform. Giovanni Rechefski's grey hair color placed his age somewhere in his early fifties, but for an old man, he had a considerable amount of vim and vigor left in him. Giovanni walked with an authoritative step, talked in a low, rasping, commanding voice, and cast an imposing shadow. His body could have been that of any number of star football players, as he was unusually muscular and thin for his age. His face was broad, elliptical in shape, and bearded thickly about the chin. His most distinguishing features, however, were his two large, bright blue eyes, which Maxey had obviously inherited as well.

"I apologize for my tardiness," he began as he alighted from the elevator platform, directing his remarks at nobody in general. "I had many things to attend to regarding my appearance for today's speech."

Win motioned to say something regarding his host's "tardiness," but Maxey elbowed him in the ribs and said "Oh, that's fine, father. I don't think any of us really minded, _did we?_"

Win began to speak out in protest again, but another elbow in the ribs (from Page this time) forced him to nod compliantly.

"I see you found recipients for our VIP passes," Giovanni continued, now directly addressing his son. "Who are these young people, Maxmillion?"

Maxey turned a delicate shade of pink upon being addressed by his full name in front of his friends. Nevertheless, he recovered and responded to his father with perfect decorum.

"Ahem… yes… Father, may I present Mr. Windows Safari" he said, motioning towards Win. Win turned a less delicate shade of pink upon hearing himself referred to as "Mister," and had he been amongst less polite company, he probably would've said "Aww, shucks, Maxey… Win will do."

Nevertheless, Win shook the outstretched hand of Maxey's father as Maxey continued with the introductions.

"Next, Ms. Page Satellite,"

Page curtseyed and held forth her hand for her host to kiss.

It took every ounce of Win's self-control to prevent him from sticking his tongue out and saying "Bleaaaach!"

"and finally, Mr. Exabyte Lan."

Even Exabyte, with his crude manners, remembered enough about decorum to shake the host's hand and mumble his thanks.

"A pleasure to make all of your acquaintances, I am sure," said Giovanni with even more perfect decorum than his son.

A brief interlude followed, and Win couldn't help blurting out "So, when do we go to Hologo-Land, already?"

Giovanni looked aghast.

"Oh, please excuse Win, father. He's been giddy with excitement all day like a little boy," Maxey said hurriedly, cutting Win off.

Fortunately, no damage was done, and Giovanni rolled with laughter.

"Well, then, I suppose we mustn't keep our dear Mr. Safari waiting much longer then," he said, snapping his fingers. Two valets appeared immediately.

"Ready my transport," he commanded. The two bowed and stepped away towards an elevator platform. Giovanni signaled for the boys and girl to follow him. Surprisingly, however, they found that he was headed away from the limousine garage.

"We're not going in the limo?" Win inquired of Maxey, leaning over to whisper in his ear as he did so.

"No, wait and see. We've got something much better planned," Maxey responded. "Oh, and Win?" Maxey added, apparently having remembered something important.

"Yeah? What?" Win asked back.

"There's something you've got to understand about my dad." Maxey said.

"Uh huh… I'm listening" Win said, drawing closer to Maxey.

"My dad values propriety and manners and decorum more than just about anything in this world. They're what he uses to judge people, so you'd do well not to make another outburst like you did back there."

"What, asking when we were leaving was improprietous?" asked the clueless Win.

"It sure as heck was," said Maxey, forcefully.

"Ok, check," Win said back with a nod.

This conversation took place as Giovanni Rechefski led the four friends through a maze-like labyrinth of hallways and elevator platforms which spiraled lower and lower into the bowels of Rechefski Manor. Win kept asking Maxey where his father was taking them, but Maxey kept holding up his finger to shush Win and would only say "You'll see, trust me. It's worth the suspense."

Finally, however, the party came to an impressive impasse. Giant steel doors, which must have been ten feet tall and twice that length wide, were blocking the path which Maxey's father was taking. In front of the grand boss of Hologo-Co were a variety of security systems: a hand scanner, a retinal scanner, a voice identifier, and a weight sensor. Giovanni passed all of these locks with ease (after all, it was his house), and the gigantic steel bay doors began to open slowly, revealing a truly awesome sight.

Bathed in a column of light before the group was a shining golden VTOL (Vertical Takeoff Or Landing) aircraft, powered by Hover Boosters. As for its design, the vessel was elliptical in shape, with a large main dome for the passengers. Two seemingly multi-purpose arms on either side were acting as landing gear currently, but it looked as if they turned into the wings of the aircraft in flight. The aircraft was huge to boot, and Win feigned that it was half the size of his house.

"Whoa…" Win said, stunned. "We get to ride in _that_?"

"It's beautiful," Page remarked.

"I told you that it was worth the suspense. Unfortunately, our ride in it will be fairly short, as it travels at mach 20.

"Mach 20?!" the entire group parroted.

"Mach 20," Giovanni said, swelling with pride. "Welcome aboard _The Future_, kids."

"Oh, don't tell me you killed it by naming it something that lame," said Win under his breath.

"Hm?" grunted Giovanni, turning to Win. "Did you say something, young man?"

Remembering Maxey's speech on propriety, Win shook his head and answered in the negative.

"Good," said Giovani back. "Now, hop aboard. We've got a theme park to visit!"

Win obliged immediately and scrambled aboard the elevator platform which lifted the group into the main hull of _The Future_.

Living up to its name, _The Future_ looked very futuristic on the interior. Most of the aircraft was open space, and slide-out tables and windows bordered the elliptical walls. The ceiling of the aircraft looked high and vaulted (although Win later found out that it was just an illusionary hologram), and a very heavily reinforced door guarded the helm of the ship. For the passenger seats, five temper-gel padded hovering chairs were lined up in the center of the floor, and these chairs would move on command from a pulse band. The temper-gel pads on the seats served both a comfortable and functional purpose, as at mach 20, the gel would absorb and 'temper' the huge g-forces.

Seeing as it was quite the deluxe aircraft, Win and the others scrambled aboard a seat, and soon four seats were hovering around the extensive open space in the aircraft's main hull, their inhabitants controlling them, quite literally, with their minds (or rather their pulse bands. Only Giovanni remained motionless in his seat as he communicated with the helm via his pulse band, telling the pilots to take off and drop them at Hologo-Land. As soon as the command was registered, the ship pulsed quietly to life and lifted out of the Rechefski Manor garage smoothly and silently. In fact, the ship was so smooth and silent that Win was on the verge of uttering another "When are we leaving?" remark when he happened to glance out the window and noticed that the world was getting smaller and smaller.

Even the extreme g-force of traveling at mach 20 was hard to notice, due to the fact that all the passengers strapped into floating temper-gel seats. Well, actually, "strapped into" is an archaic phrase, as there were no real straps; just neurological safety freezers that prevented the passengers from leaving their seats.

Unfortunately, just as Maxey had predicted, the ride was much too short, as the party arrived at Hologo-Land in just under a minute. Practically drooling, Win waited giddily for his HUD to tell him that the neurological safety freezers had disengaged, so that he could descend from the plane and into Hologo-Land. The green light finally did flare in his optic nerve, and Win hovered away from his seat on his uber-powerful HoverShoes, and stood in the spot where the elevator platform would descend.

The rest of the group joined him promptly, and Page said to Win,

"Well, someone's eager."

"You bet," assured Win.

"Don' forget, Win. You promised to NetBattle me in th' new facil'ty." This rough speech could only come from Exabyte.

Exabyte's statement jogged Win's memory and dislodged a question which he had been meaning to ask.

"Mr. Rechefski?" Win queried respectfully, turning to fact Giovanni.

"Yes… Windows, wasn't it?" Giovanni said back.

"Yes, Windows is right. I was wondering, sir, could you tell me if the rumors about the NetBattle facility in Hologo-Land are true? I've heard that there are machines there that can physically turn a person into their Navigator form."

"Hm?" said Giovanni, scratching his head. "Oh, yes… Well, we're here at the park now, aren't we? You'll see soon enough."

This answer exasperated Win, and he muttered "Some help you are, old man!" under his breath.

At long last, the four friends and Giovanni descended from _The Future_ on an elevator platform. As Giovanni was scheduled to give a speech before the park officially opened to VIP's, the platform brought him down near a large grandstand with a gigantic "Hologo-Land: Preview Opening!" hologram floating above it.

Giovanni floated up (yes, floated, for the old man wore HoverShoes as well) to the podium on the grandstand, took a minute to connect to the amplifier via his Pulse Band so that his voice would be amplified through the various speakers in the park, and then began his speech.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," he started, his voice amplified through the built-in microphone on his Pulse Band, "at the request of my son, I will keep this speech short."

This opening remark brought light chuckles from the crowd of VIP's, all men and women in business suits carrying their children on one arm.

"I know as well as anyone why you're all here, and I also know what you're thinking," he continued, "so all I'll say is this: thank you and have fun!" And with that, Giovanni bowed and stepped down from the podium.

"Now that's my kind of speech!" Win yelled, dashing away on his HoverShoes through the dispersing crowd. He stopped in front of the largest and most imposing-looking roller coaster; one with six loops and an extensive underground section. Page caught up with him and stood half-mesmerized, half-mortified, looking at the imposing coaster.

"Do you think we should go on?" she asked Win.

"I dunno about you, but I'm going." Win paused to think. Then suddenly he thrust his elbow towards Page.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Page asked.

"You said you were scared, so I thought I'd try being… how do you say it… chiv-all-rous?

"Chivalrous?" Page asked.

"Yeah, that's what I said. Anyway, I thought I'd be chiv-all-rous and take you for a ride.

Page withdrew her hand. "I never said I was scared," she said defensively.

"Whatever…" Win said with a wave of his hand. "I thought I'd be nice for a change, but clearly you don't want it, so see you…"

"Wait!" Page yelled. "Just take me, then." She held out her arm.

"Girls…" Win muttered under his breath as he escorted Page to a front row seat on the roller-coaster car.

The roller coaster turned out to be even scarier than Page had thought it would be. Since Hologo-Co. was the largest producer of holographic projectors, it stood to reason that their park would be chock-full of holographic illusions. The thing was, however, that the holographic projection technology had gotten good enough by the year 4000 so that it could be difficult (if not impossible) to differentiate a hologram from the real thing, and Hologo-Land used this fact to its advantage when designing the rides. Even though the roller coaster looked like it was anchored to a track, the truth was that the track was actually a hologram, and the roller coaster tram was powered by Hover Boosters, and ran independent of a track or guide rail. However, since this new Hover Booster powered rollercoaster technology was still fairly new, it could be used in several scary new ways. For example, on a certain wooden roller coaster, the tram might be rolling along up and down hills when all of a sudden… the track might splinter and break away underneath the coaster tram. The tram might then plummet to a vast underground section, which would be hidden, of course, by a holographic fake ground (however, the riders would not know that the ground was, in fact, holographic, and as such, they would think that they were plummeting to their doom).

The particular roller coaster that Win and Page were riding happened to have a very large number of these sorts of scary holographic illusions, and Win and Page both thought that they were going to die in each other's arms several times throughout the ride. When they emerged from the Hover Booster powered tram, both of them rushed to a trash can and performed one of the less savory bodily functions which is often associated with riding a roller coaster. After retching the contents of that morning's breakfast into the unfortunate trashcan, Win and Page found a seat on a park bench, and Win leaned over to apologize to Page.

"Sorry for dragging you on that ride, Page. I guess it really was too intense, just like you predicted."

"Oh well," said Page. "I guess it can't be helped now, anyway. And besides, I held up just about as well as you did."

"Which isn't saying much," Win said back.

"Hey, you're stealing my lines now!" Page said back.

The two attempted to laugh at this comment, but laughing caused their stomachs to churn in an unpleasant way, so they stopped abruptly.

At this point, Exabyte came waltzing by, happily chewing on an absolutely gigantic hamburger in one hand, and licking an absurdly large cloud of cotton candy with the other hand. Spotting Win and Page, he made a beeline for their bench.

"Mmph, mmph… Hey Win…*munch* hey Page *chew, chew*," he said between bites.

"Get outta here, fatso!" Win yelled back. "Don't bring the food closer to us."

The word 'fatso' angered the stout, slightly overweight Exabyte momentarily, but he recovered and said:

"Ok, ok! No need ta' get mad!" "Anyway…" he continued, taking another huge bite, "I'm goin' on the coaster. Youse guys wanna' come?"

"No thanks…" Page said, shivering. Then, surveying the food in the brown-haired bully's hand, Page inquired of Exabyte:

"Say, Exabyte… You're not really thinking of riding that thing with that much food in your belly, are you?"

"Yeah, I was… why?" asked the brown-eyed boy as he took another huge bite of his huge burger, causing a huge ketchup drip to leave a huge stain on his green shirt.

"Ummm… you might want to re-consider riding that thing until you've settled your stomach a bit," Page continued hesitantly.

Win nodded vigorously, his cheeks filling with…well, Exabyte couldn't tell whether it was air or digestive fluid.

"Aww, youse guy're just too chicken. Me, I'm a real man! So I'm gonna go ride the coaster. See youse guys later!" Exabyte walked away, still happily munching on his burger and cotton candy.

"Oh, God…" Win said with a hiccup as he drained his cheeks. "I do NOT want to be here when he gets off that ride."

"Yeah, that boy's going retch like a 'real man,'" Page said with a smug smile.

Win tried to laugh again, but his cheeks filled again when he did, and he was forced to rush to the trash can for a second helping of heaving.

After finishing his 'business,' Win turned to Page and suggested that they find something less sickening to do.

"Why don't we go to that battle arena that you've raved about so much last night?" suggested Page.

"Now you're talking sense," said Win, a noticeable gleam returning to his eyes. "Only problem is…" Win said, looking around him, "I don't know where it is… this park is so huge…"

"Your problem is solved," Page said, tapping her pulse band. "I downloaded a park map from a holographic kiosk before I rode that coaster."

"Sweet!" Win said. "Just lead the way, I'll follow."

Page thrust out her elbow again.

"It's not dinner this time," said Win. "I don't have to take your arm."

"Dang," muttered Page. "I thought I had you that time," she said, her Anime character's eyes throwing a wink at Win as she began to walk.

"Okaaaay…?" the poor, clueless Win said as he began to follow Page, who would lead him to the new battling facility.

Page, following the map in her left eye, led Win around through the large maze of Hologo-Land, and Win wondered why everything that the Rechefskis built had to be complex and labyrinthine. At last, Page led him up to a MagLev monorail.

"We have to take that thing?" Win asked. "How far away is this facility?"

"The 'Battle Dome Revolution' isn't far," said Page, "You can even see it from here." She pointed to their right.

Win looked where her finger fell, and sure enough, he saw the gigantic hexagonally-shaped dome with a huge hologram that read "Battle Dome Revolution" floating above it.

"It's just that according to the map, this MagLev train is the only way to enter the dome," concluded Page.

Satisfied by this response, Win followed Page onto the train which would take the two straight into the heart of the "Battle Dome Revolution."

After a short ride at speeds over 500 mph, Win and Page stepped off the MagLev Monorail, and the over-excited Win finally got to take his first look at the 'revolutionary' Battle Dome Revolution. The interior of this huge dome was sterile and white and well lit, and the dome had obviously been built to hold a truly gigantic crowd. As Win exited the express monorail, he walked along an enclosed, elevated catwalk, which looked down into the battling ring. If his eyes didn't lie, Win saw that all his suspicions were actually true: two actual, physical navigators were battling with actual, physical battle drive attacks. With the knowledge that he had been right all along, Win kicked in his HoverShoes and blasted down the catwalk, leaving Page to follow in his dust.

At the end of the catwalk, Win found a row of very large elevator platforms, which took patrons down a few stories to the audience level of the dome. After descending, Win floated over to the very edge of the battling arena and began to watch the ongoing fight.

The battling ring looked very much like a boxing arena, except it was quite four times the standard boxing arena's size, and it had a black floor with green grid squares on it instead of pads. Standing facing each other were two navigators; one very large and imposing, the other very small and delicate-looking. However, the large one wore glowing blue armour (signifying that he was strong against water-based attacks) with a yellow underside (signifying his weakness to electricity), while the other, more frail-looking navigator had yellow armour (signifying his electrical strength) with no apparent undertone for weakness.

"Man," Win thought to himself. "The little guy's armour is something else! I've never seen armour with no weakness like that guy has," he said, clearly surprised.

As might have been expected, one electrical-style attack finished the hulking water-based Navigator (well, actually it was a real person. Win had to keep reminding himself of this). A large man in a garish red tuxedo came out and held up the winning Navigator-person's hand as he yelled to the crowd:

"Is there nobody in this arena powerful enough to take on this electrifying opponent, who, by his own words, has _no weakness?!_"

"Peh…" Win said, feigning a spitting action. "No weakness indeed… I'll show this guy up, good and proper."

Win raised his hand and tried to yell his challenge to the MC, but he was cut off by a rather obnoxious young man in his twenties, dressed in a business suit.

"I'll accept the challenge," he said, covering Win's mouth with his outstretched hand." Upon hearing the new challenge, the MC promptly recognized the man in the business suit and bade him to step into the ring. As he let go of Win's mouth and began to move towards the ring, however, Win turned his HoverShoes to full blast and kicked this new, obnoxious intruder hard in the shin.

The businessman staggered in pain and turned to face Win after recovering.

"What the hell is your problem?!" both of them inquired of each other at the same time. Win took the next line, however, and followed up his interjection with another sentence:

"Where do you come off, covering my mouth and upstaging me?!" he said, irate.

"Hey, kid…" the young man said with cold, calculated words. "Why don't you wait your turn and let the real VIP's have their fun first?"

The coldness of the man's speech made Win think back to his brief encounter with Veronica Worthingham, who had talked in such a manner to Maxey at _Ché Merd_. As Win paused momentarily to think about this, the businessman turned away and walked into the ring before Win could utter another protest.

"F***ing rich snots," Win muttered under his breath. "Oh well," he sighed, "I guess I'll just have to watch another battle."

By this time, the businessman had transformed into his Navigator; a very large program with green armour, which again, seemed to show no weakness. Win thought this quite remarkable that two navigators with no weaknesses were about to battle each other, but he dismissed it by reminding himself that he was dealing with rich snots, who had infinite money to spend on customized armour with no weaknesses.

The MC made both men shake hands, and then rang a digital bell to signal the start of the fight.

However, nothing happened. Neither navigator rushed the other one, neither navigator loaded any Battle Drives, neither one did anything.

"What the heck is going on?" Win thought to himself. His HUD flashed, telling him that his command wasn't recognized, and Win thought again to himself: "That's the problem with Pulse Bands for you. You can't just think in peace."

Meanwhile, something had finally happened in the ring. One navigator had given the other a discreet nod, and the other had responded. Immediately after the nod, both navigators began counting down from three:

"Three…Two…One…NOW!"

As if the shouted word "NOW!" was the trigger for a bomb, the entire stadium went dark immediately after the shout. Win sent a thought to his pulse band, telling it to turn his eyes to night vision mode.

The HUD in his optic nerve flared, saying that the command was impossible to execute due to virus infection.

"Oh, crap…" Win said out loud amid the panicked screams of people suddenly thrust into darkness. "I can't pulse into my own pulse band…" He stopped to think. Then, suddenly, an idea came to him.

"Please, let the phone feature work at the very least," he pleaded as he sent the command to his pulse band to call Page Satellite.

Thankfully, the phone feature appeared to work, and Win watched the phone icon in his Pulse Band flash and show his connection to Page's band.

"Page? You there?" Win asked frantically when the phone connection had been established.

The connection crackled for a few seconds, but the clear, bright voice of Page did respond.

"Yeah, I'm here." she said, sounding breathless.

"Oh, thank God…" Win said back. "Where are you? Are you all right?" he asked frantically.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm in the first row of the stands, near the fighting ring."

"Oh good, you're in range," Win said, breathing a temporary sigh of relief. "Page, listen to me…" he began.

"Yeah? What?" she responded.

"I need you to pulse into my band and delete the viruses jamming my night-vision function." he said.

"Oh, man…" Page said, apprehensively. "You know that I'm not as good at virus busting as you are," she said back to Win.

"You're good enough," Win said back, trying to be encouraging. "Besides, I don't think that there's going to be anything too hard to fight in my band. If there was a huge virus in there, the whole thing would've shut down."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she said, taking a deep breath. "Ok… Pulse In, Page Satellite Execute! Transmit: Pulse Band. Owner: Win Safari. Access Code:…? Win, what's your access code?"

"1492," Win said, cringing as he did so. Access codes were the key to a user's pulse band. Although they were supposed to be used for maintenance purposes only, a hacker could wreak havoc with a pulse band if they knew its access code. Since the dome had apparently just been taken over by two suspicious Navigators, Win knew not whether they were listening in on his conversation or not. Nevertheless, there appeared to be no other way to fix his band's night vision feature, so Win decided to risk it.

"…Access Code: 1492!" Page said, completing her pulse-in command.

Win could feel a subliminal force entering his head as Page's navigator worked its way into Win's Pulse Band cyberworld.

"How's it look?" he asked Page once she had completed the pulse in process.

"Not too bad," she said. "You were right, Win, there were only a few viruses. I'll delete them now."

"Ok, good. Just hurry, OK?"

"Check." responded Page.

Meanwhile, as Page worked on the few viruses in Win's Pulse Band, a large explosion rocked the air in the stadium, and Win could see by the small amount of light provided by the blast that the green Navigator-Person who had covered Win's mouth earlier was the cause of the explosion.

"I knew that I didn't like that guy…" Win said amid the screams and falling rubble that followed the blast.

"What?" asked Page through the still-open phone connection.

"Oh, don't worry, Page," said Win sarcastically. "Two Navigator-People are just blowing up the Battle Dome, that's all."

"Oh my God!" Page screamed. "What are we going to do?!"

"You get rid of those viruses as quickly as you can," ordered Win. "Until my Pulse Band is fully operational, I can't stop these guys."

"What, you've got a plan?" Page asked.

"Come on… did you expect anything less from Server City Middle School's best NetBattler?"

"Actually, yes…" Page said.

"What?!" Win asked, incredulous. "Explain yourself!"

"I dunno…" Page said, looking for the right words. "You just always seem so nonchalant and flippant and not-caring that I didn't expect you to stick your neck out for anyone."

"Ok…" Win said, also looking for the right words. "First of all, you're right, I don't care about much that has to do with school or society, but if you think I'm about to let my friends just die when this Battle Dome is destroyed, think again. And besides," said Win, familiar tones of sarcasm coming back into his voice, "this attack really isn't going to be so hard to stop."

"Oh, now that's the Win that I'm used to," said Page, mockingly. " 'If I don't have to exert myself, then I'll do anything,'" she said, impersonating Win.

"Well, I'm not going to have to exert myself for something like this. If I can turn myself into my navigator form, I can stop these guys easily." said Win back.

"Well," responded Page, panting heavily, "the viruses are gone. I'll pulse out."

"Thanks Page, you're a real lifesaver," Win said as he closed the phone connection.

This time, the pulse band had no problem in turning Win's vision to night vision, and Win could see clearly the extent of the problem which he had taken upon himself to resolve.

The blast which Win had bore witness to had apparently not been for the purposes of destroying the Battle Dome as Win had thought. His newly-activated night vision showed that the hole created by the blast led outside the battle dome, and Win could only assume that more than one human had transformed into their Navigator and escaped through this hole while Win had been in darkness. As Win continued to survey the Battle Dome, he found that only the small yellow Navigator-Person had stayed behind. Seeing as he could get information from this Navigator-Person should he be defeated, Win rushed to the MC, who stood dazed in the middle of the fighting ring.

Grabbing the poor man in garish tuxedo by the arm, Win made a very clear demand of him:

"Turn me into my Navigator form!"

"No!" screamed the MC back. "I won't let you destroy Hologo-Land!"

"DO IT!" Screamed Win back at the MC in an even louder voice. "DO IT, OR I'LL HACK YOUR SERVER TO HELL LIKE I DID IN SERVER CITY MIDDLE SCHOOL!"

"Wait, Server City Middle School?" asked the MC. "Are you Win Safari?"

"Yeah, that's right!" Win said back. "Now, turn me into my Navigator form if you want me to save this park!"

"Oh, yes sir, right away!" The MC sent a thought to his pulse band, and Win felt a huge surge of energy flood his body.

"Now, pulse in now!" said the MC.

Win obliged, and his vision blurred like normal. However, when the colors solidified, Win found himself looking at exactly the same scene as before he had pulsed in. The only difference between before and after was that now, Win's physical form looked exactly like his Navigator on the net.

"Oh, wow…" Win said, clenching a fist and feeling his newfound muscles ripple. "This is just something else!"

Then, suddenly remembering the electric Navigator-Person who had stayed behind in the dome, Win loaded an earth-style cannon Battle Drive (as earth would ground electricity), and kicked his HoverShoes on full blast.

Win spiraled up and hit the ceiling of the Battle Dome with his head.

When he came down with a splat, he smacked himself on the head as he muttered.

"Jesus, I forgot that my HoverShoes on the net are rocket powered."

Picking himself up, Win turned his rocket propelled HoverShoes to 0.5% strength (about the strength of his real HoverShoes on full power) and blasted over to the electrical Navigator-Person, who was hiding in the shadows of the stands. Upon his approach, the electrical navigator fired a blast of lightning, but Win remained motionless with a contented smirk on his face as the lightning bolt hit his turquoise armour and ricocheted off into the distance.

"Won't work," Win said with a smug affect. "My armour is primarily earth-based."

The electrical Navigator looked anguished. Win then proceeded to grab the electrical Navigator by the neck, and he made a very simple request of the Navigator-Person:

"Tell me what I want to know and I won't completely obliterate you."

"O…kay…" said the electrical Navigator-Person, gasping for air.

Win released his grasp on the Navigator's neck, and with his cannon trained on him, Win asked how many people had transformed and were now at large.

"There were four," the Navigator-Person responded, "Four of us escaped.

"But without their Navigator armour, they're all just normal, unarmed citizens, right?" asked Win, poking his hostage with the barrel of his cannon.

"Yes, yes!" said the Navigator-Person, who was obviously scared to death.

"HEY, MC!" Win shouted, turning his head towards the ring.

"Yes?" responded the MC in the garish tuxedo.

"Is there some sort of emergency override that can turn all those escaped people back into their human forms?"

"Yes, but…" the MC hesitated.

"But what?! Hurry and tell me!" Win screamed back hysterically.

"The range on the emergency stopper is too short to reach them if they're outside the Battle Dome," said the MC shamefully. "We just never figured that anyone could get past our security and make it outside."

"How close would they have to be to the Battle Dome in order for the emergency stopper to work?" Win asked back.

"They'd have to be pretty close…" said the MC, pausing to think. "10 feet from the dome would be the absolute maximum range of the emergency stopper."

"Great…" said Win to himself. "How am I supposed to get all four of them to within ten feet of the building?"

Win's train of thought was interrupted by his HUD, which indicated that he had a new video call. Opening the connection, Win found Maxey's bright blue eyes staring back at him through the projection in his optic nerve.

"Hey, Win?" Maxey asked frantically. "You OK?"

"Yeah, fine," said Win back. "What about you?"

"Well, see for yourself," Maxey said with a dark face as he switched the video feed to reflect what he was seeing through his own eyes.

The vista outside did not look good. Win could clearly see the escaped four Navigator-People rampaging around the park, destroying it with their best Battle Drives.

Maxey switched the video feed back to his face. "I never thought that our technology would be used for something this awful," he said, shamefacedly.

"Are you safe, at least?" Win asked.

"Oh, yes. I commandeered a roller coaster tram, and I'm floating above the park right now. That's why I called."

"How did you commandeer something like that?!" Win asked, amazed.

"With my Pulse Band and the access codes," Maxey responded. "Perhaps you've forgotten that my father owns the park?"

Win smacked himself on the head again.

"Anyway, I'm controlling it with my Pulse Band, and I discovered something interesting. These coaster trams have Executioner-Class lasers built into them."

"EX-Class lasers?!" asked Win, amazed and more than slightly confused. "Why would roller coaster trams have police-class lasers installed in them?"

"I think that it was so that a SWAT team could regain control of the park in the case of a terrorist attack like this one.

"I guess that makes sense… if you're wealthy enough to do something like that, why not?" said Win under his breath.

"Anyway… I'm no SWAT officer myself, but I was wondering if you needed any aerial support," Maxey continued.

"I sure as heck do!" Win said. "I need you to drive the Navigator-People back to within 10 feet of the Battle Dome."

"EX-Class lasers won't destroy these guys, Win." Maxey said back.

"No, but they might be able to chase them back to within range of the emergency Navigator stopper. Without their navigator armour, those guys are just regular old people," explained Win.

"Oh, yeah… Good idea! Ok, I'll get right on it," said Maxey back.

"Oh, right…" Win said, remembering something else. "Maxey, see if you can get Exabyte to commandeer his coaster as well. He was riding one last time I checked, so you might be able to get some help that way."

"Roger!" said Maxey.

"It won't work…"

"What, Maxey? Did you say something?" asked Win.

"No," responded Maxey.

"Your plan won't work…" said the electrical Navigator-Person, whom Win had almost forgotten about.

"And why, exactly is that?" Win asked, shoving the barrel of his cannon in the Navigator's face once more.

"We made sure to overload the system with viruses before we began our attack," he said. "Even if you got the Navigators back into range, the emergency stopper wouldn't work."

"Well, I guess you've got your work cut out too, Win" said Maxey, who had been listening in.

"Yeah. I'll have that emergency stopper back up by the time that the Navigators are within range," said Win as he closed the video connection.

With his mission clear, Win turned to the MC and asked:

"Where do I pulse into in order to restore the server and the emergency stopper?"

"Transmit yourself to the 'Hologo-Land Server', and use this access code: 245235678945," the MC said, looking up and trying to remember the long number

"245235678945…got it!" said Win, praying that he remembered it for the next five seconds as he sent the command to his pulse band:

"Pulse in: Win Safari Execute! Transmit: Hologo-Land Server. Access code: 2452…35…678…945?"

Thankfully, Win remembered the access code long enough to enter it correctly, and he began the transmission process into Hologo-Land's server. Color, space, and time blurred into the familiar chaos of the pulse transmission process, and eventually the colors solidified into the shape of another server overrun with viruses.

Unlike Win's school server, Hologo-Land's server interface was sterile white with blue grid squares on the floor. A plain white wallpaper that read usually read 'Hologo-Land' in bright blue letters comprised the cyberworld's 'sky.' However, with viruses present, the server wallpaper had begun to flash red and read 'error,' much like in the security robot. The types of viruses in this network were all earth-style viruses, viruses which had the appearance of a green cylinder with an angry emoticon for a face. Each virus had long intertwined vines for arms, which they were using to vigorously hack away at the server's data towers. Additionally, vines had sprouted from holes in the ground, and besides posing an obnoxious tripping hazard, they also were beginning to engulf the data towers, making it easier for the viruses to topple them.

"Well, well…" Win said with a pleased smile on his face. "This is much simpler than the school server. I'm well defended against earth-style attacks." He paused to think.

"However," he continued, "I only have one weak fire-style Battle Drive, and fire is most effective against these types of viruses. I think that it should be alright for deleting these viruses and cyber-vines, but if there's a navigator behind all this, I'm going to run into some problems."

While he talked to himself, Win surveyed the tangled mess of connecting pathways in the server, looking for the control panel. Unable to see it, however, Win decided to follow the viruses and vines back to their source. "After all," he reminded himself, "this time, the connections aren't fragmented to hell."

So, Win loaded his one weak fire-style Battle Drive; a small flamethrower attachment which fit on one arm, and started following the path made by the vines and viruses. As Win had predicted, the viruses and vines were easy to delete with his fairly weak flamethrower, and the path was also fairly easy to follow. "In fact, this is almost too easy…" Win said to himself as he followed the path to the server control panel. Sensing a threat up ahead, Win loaded another AquaShield Battle Drive, which would be much more effective this time around, Win thought.

Simply by following the vines and viruses, Win eventually found his way to the server control panel. As he approached the control panel, however, his suspicions proved to be true after all. A large wood-style Navigator pulsed in directly in front of Win, barring his access to the control panel and the emergency stopper.

"Geez, why do these guys always pulse in right in front of me when I'm about to win?" Win asked exasperatedly.

As the hulking green Navigator finished materializing in front of him, Win recognized it as the Navigator form of the man in the business suit who had cut Win off when he had wanted to enter the battle arena. Tensing with anger for more than one reason, Win trained the sights of his weak flamethrower on this green giant and yelled a rude greeting to the newcomer:

"You're not cutting me off again, jerk!" Win yelled angrily. "First in the battle arena, now in front of the control panel…" His navigator's eyes turned a fiery red to reflect Win's boiling anger. "Step aside or be destroyed!" he continued, still yelling.

"Oh, is that right?" mocked the Navigator. "The second class second grader is going to take down a first class Navigator like mine? Don't make me laugh."

"My God…" Win muttered in disbelief. "What is it with the NetDoom Cult and incredibly lame lines? I mean, seriously…" Win trailed off.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL THAT LAME?!" The green giant shouted back.

"And repetitive, too," Win continued. "The last Navigator I fought said exactly the same thing."

While Win was talking, the green Navigator uploaded the battle drive for a VineWhip, and took a swipe at Win with it.

Win, again, had to boost high into the air with his HoverShoes to avoid it. When he came down again, he turned to face the Navigator and continued with his sarcastic rant.

"And on top of that," he continued, "you guys all fight in exactly the same cowardly way. Seriously, is there some book called: _So You Wanna Join the NetDoom Cult? _ that you all follow instructions from?"

"HOW DID YOU KNOW…" the Navigator began, but then he covered his mouth abruptly when he realized how much of an idiot he had revealed himself to be.

"Thought so…" Win said with a contented smirk on his face.

"ENOUGH!" said the green Navigator, taking another slash at Win with his VineWhip.

Win loaded his AquaShield in enough time to absorb the blast, but this same shield had unforeseen consequences.

The green Navigator's VineWhip attached itself to the water source, and was rapidly draining the shield of its water in large gulps. With each gulp, the already hulking Navigator grew an inch, and by the time Win had realized what his shield was doing, the Navigator had grown large enough so that his head touched the wallpaper.

"Okaaay… little problem here," Win said, taking a few steps back.

The Navigator hit Win with his now-gigantic VineWhip, and try as he might to dodge the attack, the whip hit Win squarely in the chest and would've sent him flying through the wallpaper had it not been for his rocket-powered HoverShoes. Win's HUD flashed the dreaded "critical fragmentation" message, and as he navigated back to the server control panel, Win received a call from Maxey.

"Win? You there?" Maxey asked calmly.

"Yeah, but I'm a little busy…" Win said, making the understatement of the century. "What is it?"

"Exabyte and I are holding the four Navigators against the side of the Battle Dome with the EX-Class lasers, but we can only hold them for about a minute. You'd better press the emergency stopper button now!"

"I'm getting to it, I'm getting to it!" Win yelled back testily as he approached the giant green Navigator once more. "I'm just being blocked by the green giant."

"?" Maxey said.

"It's a giant green Navigator… but don't worry, I've got a plan."

Maxey began to talk, but Win said "bye, Maxey," and hung up.

The plan that was running through Win's mind was this: Since the green Navigator had taken in so much water to grow that huge, an electrical attack would be extremely effective. As such, Win loaded an ElectroSword (his strongest electric-style battle drive). Since the green Navigator had become so huge, it was not able to stop Win as he charged towards the giant's left leg. With no obstacles in his way, Win turned his rocket powered HoverShoes to 110% power and delivered the strongest blow he was capable of delivering to the giant's leg.

The sword barely cut the cyber-skin of the Navigator's leg.

Fortunately, it didn't have to do much more than that, for that tiny cut pulsed electricity throughout the giant Navigator's body, and before long, the giant began to twitch and sway, leaking gallons of water as he toppled over.

Seeing as Win's Navigator was about to get squashed flat by this menacing Navigator, or else drowned by the flood of water it was releasing, he quickly interfaced with the server, hammered the largest, reddest button he could find, and pulsed out quickly.

Fortunately for Win, that red button was, in fact, the emergency stopper button, and Win found this out himself when he no longer retained his Navigator's turquoise armour in the real world. Further proof that he had hammered the right button came from the small, yellow Navigator, who shuddered and de-atomized right in front of Win's eyes. As the particles of the person swirled around in a cloud, they turned from yellow to a rather familiar gray, and when they had re-arranged themselves, Win found himself looking directly into the cold, narrow, gray eyes of Veronica Worthingham.

Win floated over to his cold, gray superior of two years, and asked another very simple question:

"Was this all your plan?"

"It wasn't just my plan…" said Veronica, still retaining her cold, calculated manner of speech, "all the Worthinghams were in on it."

"I'm listening," Win said.

Veronica opened her mouth to speak, but Win suddenly cut her off, saying, "Oh! Hold on one second."

Win sent a quick thought to his Pulse Band: "Video Call: Maxey"

After a few rings, Maxey's blue eyes flickered to life in Win's optic nerve.

"Yeah, Win?" Maxey asked, looking concerned

"Maxey, I think that this is something you'll want to see," said Win, flipping the videophone camera from his face to inside his eyes.

Turning back to Veronica, Win told her to continue.

"Several months ago," began Veronica, "when construction on Hologo-Land was first commencing, my father received a communication from the NetDoom Cult. In this communication, the NetDoom Cult provided us with a way to destroy our eternal enemies, the Rechefskis, and my father jumped at the chance."

"And let me guess…" Win said to her, "I just bore witness to the plan described in the communication."

"Exactly," said Veronica. "So, all the Worthinghams swore their allegiance to the NetDoom Cult, and… you know the rest," Veronica concluded, looking down not out of shame, but out of sheer misery because she had failed in her mission.

Maxey's face had remained perfectly stoical throughout the confession, but after a long silence, he said to Win through the video uplink:

"Thank you, Win. You're right, I really did want to hear that." After another brief pause, Maxey changed the subject to an issue much more pressing.

"How did the Battle Dome Revolution hold up?" he asked with tension in his voice.

Win looked around. "It doesn't look so bad," he said to Maxey, switching the view on the video call to his eyes again. "There's only one hole in the wall, so you should consider yourself lucky.

"A HOLE IN THE…!" Maxey yelled. Then, recovering himself, he said, "Actually, come to think of it, that's not so bad compared to how the rest of the park fared."

"Oh yeah… what's the damage on the outside?" Win inquired.

Now it was Maxey's turn to switch to optical-feed mode. "See for yourself," he said back.

Even though the limited range of vision provided by Maxey's eyes, Win could see that the park's grand opening was going to be delayed for a few months yet. Most of the major rides had at least one hole in them, the famous pirate ship lay broken in half several hundred feet from its mechanical arm, and bits of roller-coaster tram were scattered everywhere. Overall, the park looked like a real-life facsimile of a _Roller Coaster Tycoon _theme park, or at least one which had suffered from a nefarious user like Win, who kept going into the game menu and selecting the "alien attack" disaster.

"Oh, one more thing…" Maxey added apprehensively. "The MagLev monorail to the Battle Dome is out of commission. One of our Worthingham Navigator friends blew a hole in the track.

"Oh well, no problem," said Win. "I'll just go out the hole in the wall."

"Ok, see you outside," said Maxey.

Win kicked on his HoverShoes and began to hover towards the aforementioned hole in the wall, but an unexpected voice cut him off.

"What, are you just leaving me?" said a girl's voice.

With a "yes, you deserve it," on his lips, Win wheeled around to say the above phrase, conjecturing that the girl who had asked the above question was Veronica Worthingham, but he checked himself quite severely when he saw that Page was the one who had asked the question.

"Oh, sorry Page," Win said, fidgeting uncomfortably. "I forgot…"

"…that I was here," Page concluded for him.

"Yeah… sorry," Win said. "Anyway, let's go out together."

"What?" Page asked. "Did you just say that you wanted to go out with me?"

"Yeah," Win said, clueless as ever.

"As in…" Page asked apprehensively, "on a…_ date?_"

Win's eyes widened as it dawned on him that Page had misinterpreted what he had said. As soon as the realization had hit him, he shook his head violently and said,

"Oh no, no, no, no! Nothing like that!" he said, sticking his tongue out.

"Oh, so now you find me repulsive?" Page asked, outraged.

"No! no, no, no, no, no, no, I didn't mean that either," Win said, stricken with how sticky a situation he had gotten himself into.

"Yes you do," said Page on the verge of tears. "I know you do!"

"Page, look, I just wanted to…" Win began, trying desperately to explain himself.

But it was too late. Page had broken down into tears, and she was now crying hysterically on the floor of the Battle Dome. Thinking that there was nothing else he could do for her, Win shrugged and began walking towards the hole in the wall once more. You see, Win had actually meant to ask Page if she wanted to exit the dome with him, but words have a nasty way of coming out wrong, especially when someone like Page, who was half-smitten with Win, was listening.

As he began to pick his way through the rubble towards the light, however, act two of Page's performance began. Running at full speed, Page jumped on Win and tackled him. She then proceeded to pin Win to the floor, and as she held his head in place by his hair, Page began screaming at Win.

"WINDOWS SAFARI!" she yelled, choking on tears.

"Ack!" Win choked, completely dumbfounded by this sudden and violent attack.

"HOW _DARE_ YOU LEAVE A LADY WHILE SHE'S CRYING!!!" Page continued, obviously in a blind rage.

Win was now caught in a rather delicate situation. Should he wrestle free of Page, she might interpret it as him hitting a woman. Although, when had he cared about decorum like that? Still, something inside him prevented him from just kicking her off. So, he decided to just let Page take it out on him.

Fortunately, Page's assault didn't last long, as Giovanni, Maxey, and Exabyte walked in on the scene at the exact right time.

Upon seeing who had walked in on them, Page immediately released Win and stood straight up, hanging her head low. Win, on the other hand, remained on the floor, more than slightly dazed, and suffering from a chaotic mix of feelings. He felt angry at Page, sorry for Page, grateful that Giovanni walked in when he did, upset about the state of the theme park, and triumphant about the fact that he had yet again foiled a NetDoom plot, all at the same time.

Sensing his friend's emotional turmoil, Maxey hovered over to Win and held out his hand, which Win promptly grasped. When he had stood up straight, Maxey began to pull him out of the dome by his arm, and Win asked.

"Where are you taking me, Maxey?"

"You'll see," he said, beckoning for the rest of the group to follow. "Father and I have a little surprise planned for you."

"Why do the Rechefskis _always _have to be secretive?" Win asked under his breath as he was dragged away from the Battle Dome Revolution and through the park. Just as he had seen from Maxey's video feed, the park did not look good, but Win noticed that there weren't any dead bodies littering the sidewalk, so it couldn't have been that bad of an attack.

Eventually, it became clear where Maxey was leading Win. The two boys, trailed by Giovanni, Exabyte, and Page, were being escorted onto the stage of the very same grandstand where Giovanni had given his short speech earlier that very same morning. Unfortunately, the attack had taken its toll on the grandstand as well, as the stage was smashed neatly in two, and the podium for the speaker was now no more than splintered wood. Only the holographic projector, which was still showing the same "Hologo-Land: Preview Opening!" message, had survived the attack in one piece. Around this grandstand had gathered all the VIP's, whose faces betrayed that they were expecting a speech to be made.

"No, please Maxey, don't!" Win said, trying to tug away from Maxey's arm. "Don't make me give a speech!"

"Don't worry," said Maxey, hoisting his friend up onto the stage. "You won't have to say anything. Just leave everything to father," he said as Giovanni hovered up on stage alongside Win. Maxey, Exabyte and Page joined Win on the stage shortly afterwards. Then, clearing his throat, Giovanni began his second speech of the day.

"Ahem… Ladies and Gentlemen." He began, just as he had that morning. "As you all know, for undoubtedly you must, during the past few hours, this park was the victim of a terrorist attack. Although not totally unforeseen, this attack we have all just suffered cuts deeply into my heart. My only purpose in building this park was to provide happiness," Giovanni stopped to wipe a tear, and Win had to call upon his supreme powers of self-control yet again to stop himself from sticking his tongue out and making a snide comment on how maudlin this speech was.

"…and yet to find that this park has been the source of such unhappiness… it is a great personal injury to me." At this point, the crowd went "Awww…" and spontaneously applauded.

"However!" Giovanni said dramatically, in order to silence the crowd. "Despite this attack by the infamous NetDoom Cult, we have all lived to tell the tale. And for that, we have several people to thank for." Here, Giovanni paused to create suspense. "Several incredibly brave young people," he continued, "who, by any standard, should be deemed heroes." He paused yet again to build suspense further. "I would like, at this juncture, to present a video, recorded by the Hologo-Land server's cyberworld security cameras, which will show you the heroic acts of our young heroes better than any words could do."

As Giovanni spoke these words, the large holographic projector overhead switched modes, and went from displaying text to displaying the security camera video. As Win watched himself battle the gigantic green Navigator all over again, it struck him this time around that what he'd done might have been deemed insane. The green Navigator was at least 10 times the size of Win's small turquoise Navigator, and yet Win had gone rushing into battle all the same without fear of life or limb. This just didn't seem to be the same Win that everybody knew: the Win of Server City Middle School wouldn't have been half as eager to risk his Navigator's "life," as this Win was.

When the video had finished, and the green Navigator had shattered into millions of zeroes and ones, the audience of VIP's applauded spontaneously, giving Win the first standing ovation he had ever received in his life.

The rest of Giovanni's speech doesn't really bear repeating. Suffice it to say that it was soppy and dripping with emotion as usual, but it did recognize Maxey and Exabyte for backing the four loose Navigators back into the Battle Dome. Throughout the course of his speech, however, Win noticed that Page got no mention whatsoever. Thinking this an injustice considering what Page had done for him, Win resolved to do one of the things he dreaded most of all: speak before a crowd. Therefore, after Giovanni had finished his speech and the audience had clapped to their hearts' content, Win stepped forward and asked to say a few words.

As he approached the front of the stage, Win was fighting an internal battle with the freezing enemy of stage fright, and it showed: Win was sweating bullets, he had turned ghostly white, and his joints appeared frozen in their sockets. Nevertheless, Win managed to hover to the front of the stage, and with a very sharp breath, he began his own speech.

"Ummm…" Win began, stuttering. "I just…well during Mr. Rechefski's speech, I noticed…well…" Win faltered, looking directly at Page, trying to find the right words.

"I noticed that he left out one of the main heroes of this story." Win piqued the audience's interest with this sentence, and the VIP's all leaned forward to hear more.

"I know it sounds great, all of this," Win continued, "all of this; that I fought a Navigator ten times my size, that I stopped a NetDoom plot, that I alone was the one who pressed the emergency button, but…well…" Win faltered, which only increased the audience's suspense.

"Well…none of that would have ever happened if I had truly been fighting alone."

The crowd leaned forward even further, seemingly begging for an explanation.

"You see," Win continued, "When I was trapped in that Battle Dome, all the lights went out, and I couldn't see a thing. I kept trying to put on my night vision feature, but my Pulse Band had been hit by a wave of viruses, so it didn't work. And then…" Win motioned for Page to come forward. "This incredibly brave girl saved me."

Several members of the audience broke down in tears at the sweetness of the scene, and Win thought to himself

"Geez, am I really as bad as Giovanni?"

"Anyway," he continued aloud, "When my Pulse Band was completely infected, and I couldn't see anything, this girl, Page Satellite pulsed into my Pulse Band and deleted the viruses. Now, I know you all don't know Page like I do, but I can tell you she really doesn't have much confidence in her own Virus Busting abilities. And yet…" Win paused, now seemingly getting the hang of how to work a crowd. "When I really needed help, Page was there for me. So, I think that, even though she didn't defeat the NetDoom Cult by herself or drive Navigators back to the Battle Dome with laser-powered roller coasters, Page is just as much of a hero as I am, maybe even more, because in the time of need, she proved herself brave and true and strong when it really counted."

Unaware that he was even capable of giving such an oratory work, Win looked at himself with real, true disbelief in his own eyes. After he had finished, the audience wasted no time in breaking into even louder, more heartfelt applause than they had given even to Giovanni. Win stood at the front of the stage, completely stunned for five or so minutes while the audience clapped and clapped, and finally, Maxey stepped up in between Page and Win, took their hands, and forced them to take a bow. The audience's cheers reached a high point at the two kids bowed, and soon afterwards, Win had descended from the stage. Immediately afterwards, Giovanni called _The Future_, and before long, Win found himself inside the golden aircraft, speeding away into the sunset.

"Well," Win said inside the aircraft as he moved his seat close to Page, "How did I do? Did I do the right thing?"

"Oh, Win I… I…" Page faltered, looking for the right words. Suddenly, she tried to jump out of her seat and hug Win, but her seat's safety freezers held her in place. Then, forced to channel her feelings into words, Page said to Win, "Absolutely you did the right thing! You made me so happy!"

"Uh… glad to hear that," Win said, looking away uncomfortably.

"Although…" Page began, her face darkening.

"Oh dear…" Win said, scooching his chair away uncomfortably.

"I don't like that you said that I had bad NetBattling skills!" she said back.

"I never said that!" Win said with raised voice, intent on explaining himself this time. "I just said that you weren't confident in your skills, that's all."

"I know what you _really_ meant by saying that!" Page said indignantly. "You don't have to try and explain, Win, I see through you."

"Oh, whatever…" Win said, resolved not to get into another argument with Page. As such, he floated his chair away from her and accidentally smacked into Exabyte, who looked like he was deep in thought.

"Uh… Exabyte?" Win asked. "Something on your mind?" he said.

"Yea'…" Exabyte said, his index finger pressed to his broad forehead. "I kno' I forgot somethin' at the park. Somethin' I wanted to do…"

"Something you wanted to do… now what could that be?" Win asked himself quietly. Then, realizing what it was that Exabyte wanted to 'do,' Win began moving his seat slowly away from Exabyte, when suddenly he remembered.

"OH! Righ', I remember," Exabyte re-iterated.

"Ohhhh boy…" Win said, bracing for the worst.

"Win's still gotta NetBattle me!" Exabyte yelled.

As they sped into the sunset, the entire plane rolled, but not literally. It rolled figuratively…with laughter!


	5. Chapter 5: an Excess of Express

Chapter 5: An Excess of Express

ZAP! ZAP!

"WHAT THE F***?!" Win screamed as he jumped out of his bed. About a month had passed since the attack on Hologo-Land, and school was still out. As such, Win was all the more surprised when his bed zapped him awake early on a Saturday morning.

Sleepily, Win looked over at his holographic alarm clock, and if his somewhat blurred vision didn't lie, Win saw that the clock read 6:10 am. Win looked to his window, and saw that the sun was only just starting to rise. Completely outraged that his mother had activated the shock coils on a Saturday morning, Win cursed a very long string of profanities and tucked himself back into bed. However, more jolts woke him back up, and as Win could see that his mother didn't want him sleeping, he bravely forded the river of clothes on the floor of his room and hammered the holographic intercom button on his desk.

Win's mom's face flickered to life.

"What the heck are you thinking, getting me up at 6 on a Saturday?!" Win yelled to his mother, truly enraged.

"I'm sorry, Win, but I thought you'd like to see something that's happening right now," his mom said back in a calm, soothing voice tone. "Why don't you come down?" she asked.

"It'd better be good, whatever you want to show me," Win grumbled back.

Seeing no choice but to oblige his mother, Win exited his room and rode down the moving walkway which led from his room to the kitchen in his house. As he walked into the kitchen, his mom took him by surprise and gave him a big hug.

"Whoa! Mom, what's got you so happy?" Win asked.

"I'm sorry, Win," she said, regaining her composure, "But your dad is on the phone."

"Dad's calling?!" Win said excitedly.

"Yes, but it's a secure call. That's why I had to bring you down here; you have to clip this chip onto your pulse band in order to receive the call."

Win felt around on his forehead, but the pulse band wasn't there.

"I must've forgotten it in my room," Win said. "Be right back!" he yelled, running back up the moving walkway.

To this point in our story, absolutely nothing has been said about Win Safari's father. Win's dad was a very unique person, in that he was one of the distinguished few people in the world that knew the world government's best-kept secret. That secret dealt with a very specific location; the most secret location on earth. This location pointed to a very advanced technological research facility and storage lab hidden at the bottom of the ocean, and this facility was kept secret because it was the source of net society's power. One could say that it was the world's brain: render it out of commission, and the world would cease to function. You see, this facility housed the world's internet servers. Whenever anyone in the world pulsed into the net, their brain waves would be processed and transmitted in this underwater facility, and as such, the location and access codes to the facility were kept so secret that only a few hundred people worldwide knew where it was located. The world government's reasoning for such secrecy was that if the location was generally known, it would be too easy for a hacker to disguise himself as a worker and…well, in the worst case scenario, a hacker could literally shut down the world.

For extra _extra_ protection, all employees of the facility were given lodging on campus, so that there would be even fewer people with location knowledge roaming at large. Once a person entered the facility, all calls and e-mails in and out were secured, and only people who knew the correct password could make calls to employees of the facility (and, again, only a very few people knew the correct password). The same ran true for outgoing calls from the facility; the caller or e-mailer would have to ask their superior for permission to place an outside call or send an outside e-mail, and if the call or message was approved, the employee would receive a one-time use password with which he could make an outside call or send an outgoing e-mail. Lan's father was an employee working in this top-secret server facility, and even though he was high on the technological totem pole, the same rules applied to him for phone calls. Win had never known exactly what his father's position was in the facility, but he had gleaned over the years that his father had been a driving force in the creation of net society, and as such, he was well-respected around the facility.

Since calls were at such a premium in the world server facility, Win might only receive two or three calls from his father per year, and maybe twice that number of e-mails. Being a methodical sort of person, Win's father would usually make his two calls on a specific schedule, but the call this morning didn't correspond with the expected date. As Win figured it, his dad must have been caught up in some sort of emergency in order to place this special call, or else he must have had something special to tell his family.

At any rate, Win came speeding down the moving walkway from his room, securing his pulse band around his forehead as he did so, and as he rushed into the kitchen, he said with an excited, rapid voice,

"So, so, so! Give me the chip, I wanna talk to Dad."

Win's mom laughed, and she spoke to Win's father through her Pulse Band:

"Do you hear this, Netto? (Netto being Win's father's nickname). Someone just can't wait to speak to his father," she said in a teasing voice.

Win's mom paused, listening to the reply, and then after laughing lightly, she removed the chip from her Pulse Band and gave it to the excited Win.

Win fumbled with the ungainly chip for a second before he found a slot for it in his Pulse Band, and when he had finally inserted the chip, a large screen popped up in his left eye, and Win found himself looking at his father's face for the first time in almost a year.

The face that met Win looked slightly different than Win remembered, but not much. Win's father was tall, thin and handsome, much like his son. He also had his son's shaggy brown hair, but for the sake of business, Netto had slicked it all back into a neat-looking dome shape. Win's father's bright green eyes were slightly magnified by a narrow pair of rectangular frameless glasses; an unusual sight in net society, especially after the advent of lasik surgery.

Win's dad looked slightly startled when his end of the connection had pulled up on his HUD.

"My goodness, Win! You've grown so much since I last saw you."

"Why do parents always say that?" Win asked in a joking voice. For some reason, Win's father was one of the few people who found his sarcastic comments to be funny (possibly because they reminded Netto of himself in youth), and as such, the two would joke in this manner every time that they spoke.

"No idea," said Netto, shrugging and mock-throwing his hands into the air. The two laughed for a while, and finally, Netto's tone turned serious.

"So, Win, I assume that you are astute enough to notice that I'm not calling on my regular schedule," he said.

"Yes," Win said back. "I was going to ask you why that was."

"And I intend to tell you why that is," said Netto back in a matter-of-fact way. "The fact is, I call bearing an invitation."

"An invitation?" Win asked, tensing with excitement.

"Yes, and if you can come, this invitation might give me a chance to see you guys in person for the first time in years," said Netto.

Win almost cried out with excitement.

"Ok, I know you're excited, but at least let me tell you the details first," said Netto, smiling though the videophone.

"Oh, yeah, sorry…" Win said, keeping himself quiet for the purposes of listening.

"Okay… The Research Center for Marine Biology and Ecosystem Preservation…"

"What?" interrupted Win, "Research Center for Marine Biology… I thought you worked in the World Server Facility."

"Win…" said his father, his face darkening, "I know that this call is secure, but I would appreciate it if you didn't say where I really work, anyway. It's not like this facility is the world's most carefully guarded secret or anything, and you never know who might be listening."

"Oh…" said Win, becoming more serious as well. "I guess I didn't realize that."

"It's okay this time," said Netto in a comforting voice, "but from now on, refer to my place of work by its front name: "The Research Center for Marine Biology and Ecosystem Preservation."

"You know I'll never remember that name," said Win, laughing. His father laughed too, and when the laughter had subsided, he continued.

"Anyway, The Marine Center is holding a party for employees and their families in an attempt to bring us poor, trapped workers closer to our spouses and kids, so I'm inviting you, naturally."

"Did you hear that, Mom?" Win asked giddily.

"Yes, I heard it," she said. "I think it's pretty wonderful."

Turning back to his father, Win asked the next obvious question: "When is it?"

"Tomorrow," Netto said back.

"Whoa! Isn't that kind of short notice?" Win asked.

"Yes, but it's necessary. We can't have something like this planned too far in advance. It's too dangerous, especially with the NetDoom Cult around," responded Netto.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Win said back.

"I'm going to upload the pre-arranged travel plans to both you and your mother's pulse bands. Now, Win," his father cautioned, "This plan reveals the exact location of the World Ser…er, I mean, The Marine Center, so you are absolutely forbidden to show it to anyone. Don't show it, don't speak of it, and don't forget it either."

"Got it," said the over-excited Win. "so, come on! Send it already!"

"Ok, ok," said Netto, chuckling, "Hold your horses, here it comes."

A message promptly popped up in Win's HUD, warning him that a file was incoming, and did he want to accept?

Thinking "yes," Win began seeing various windows popping up in his HUD; one displaying an itinerary sheet, the other displaying the exact co-ordinates of the World Server Facility (or, rather 'The Marine Center')

"Huh…" Win said, looking at the map, which pointed to a sprawling underwater complex off the sea of Japan. "So it's underwater, huh?" Win asked his dad.

"SHHH!" Netto said, drawing his finger up to his mouth quickly. "Have you been listening to what I just finished saying, Windows?" he asked, his eyes narrow and his voice raised.

"Oh, yeah," Win said, looking down.

"ANYway," said Netto, "you two had better get packing so that you make the train tonight."

"Train?" asked Win, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes," responded Netto. "We're sending you in first class sleeper compartments on the UnderWater Express. Then, after you finish on the train, you'll transfer to an armored submarine, which will transport you to the World Serv… er, I mean 'The Marine Facility.'"

Win punched his fist in the air, now giddier even than when he'd received Maxey's invitation to preview Hologo-Land. The UnderWater Express was a very ritzy, expensive train which ran directly from the former continental United States to the former island of Japan, and, as the name implied, most of the route was underwater. Although that trip would have taken a very long time by 21st century means of travel, new technology in rail travel made it possible to travel the distance in just over one day. Unfortunately, due to the price tag, Win's family had never ridden on it. Therefore, first class sleeper service promised to be quite the new adventure, and Win couldn't wait to get packed and go.

"Well, see you tomorrow, Win" said Win's father, beaming.

"Yeah, I can't wait," said Win as he closed the connection.

The boy and mother stood in the kitchen of Win's house for several minutes afterward, soaking in full meaning of the conversation that had just taken place. Win couldn't believe it. He was going to see his dad! In person!

"Well," his mom said, being the first to break the silence, "Was that worth getting up on a Saturday morning at 6:10 am?" she asked, a light, airy smile on her face.

Win didn't even respond. He just threw his head back and laughed harder than he had laughed in a long while. It seemed as if he was pouring all his happiness and emotions into this one long, joyous laugh, and the sound of it rang throughout the house. His mom joined in before long, and soon the two had laughed themselves to the point of tears.

"So," said his mom, sniffling and wiping her eyes, "I guess we should start packing." Win's mom's face straightened, and she trained her focus on her left eye. "According to Netto's itinerary, the train leaves at five this afternoon, so we'd better get packing. Let's see, you'll need…" she trailed off thinking to herself.

Meanwhile, Win had started thinking as well. "While you're packing," he said, half to his mom, half to himself, "I've got to call Maxey, Page, Exabyte…"

"NO!" Win's mom shrieked, turning suddenly to face him. Her eyes seemed to burn a hole in Win's head as she spoke her next line:

"Windows! Don't you remember what your father said? The 'Marine Center' is an absolute secret!"

"Awww… I can't tell Maxey and Page?" he asked, pouting.

"Absolutely not!" she snapped back. "The most that you're allowed to reveal is that you're going on a short vacation. And even that's on a need-to-know basis!"

"Ok," Win said, looking disappointed, "but won't it seem pretty suspicious if I just vanish off the face of the earth and am held incommunicado for two or three days while we're at the 'Marine Center?"

"Yes," admitted Win's mom, "but it's absolutely necessary! Do you want to give the location of the World Server Facility out freely to the NetDoom Cult?" she asked in complete seriousness.

"Ok, ok, I get the point, fine." Win said, shaking his head disinterestedly.

So, Win and his mom went their separate ways for the rest of the day, and at three that same Saturday afternoon, the mother and child departed in a hovercar taxi cab for Server City Union Station, the main MagLev rail hub for the city. All trains in this age of technology ran on technology called MagLev, or Magnetic Levitation. Trains of this type ran on a very thick monorail with large electromagnets embedded within. These magnets in the rails repelled equally powerful magnets on the underside of the train cars, making the entire train levitate ever so slightly. Because of the levitation, MagLev trains had no friction to slow them, and consequently, trains of this type could move at speeds well over 500mph.

As Win and his mom pulled into the train station, Win got to take a long and hard look at the state-of-the-art building. Server City union station was another streamlined building of glass and steel, and it had been designed by the same architect as Server City Middle School. In front of the station was a large cul-de-sac which was constantly filled with cars. This cul-de-sac led into a small waiting area with a large, curved awning over it, and then to a very large set of glass doors, the etching on which read "To All Trains." It was through these very doors that Win and his mother passed, and Win got a brief glimpse of the interior before being whisked away by a RedCapBot (Instead of hiring actual Red Caps to carry luggage, train stations used Red Cap robots, which could be programmed to take luggage to a certain platform by a person's Pulse Band).

The lobby of this extensive train station looked like one gigantic glass cylinder, which had had its top cut off at a diagonal, sloping angle. Underneath this cylinder lay a large, open atrium with faux hovering seats, and the walls were dotted with small fast food restaurants and information kiosks. On either side of the large glass doors were rows of ticket counters for the various train services, lending the station more of the appearance of an airport than anything else. In fact, the only difference between Server City Union Station and Server City World Airport, was that MagLev trains left from the station instead of airplanes.

At any rate, upon sensing Win's mom's highly classified and secure ticket, the family's personal RedCapBot said in its cybernetic voice: "Follow closely, please," and then it began moving quickly on its Hover Boosters, dragging the family's bags behind him.

Win and his mom followed the RedCapBot around seemingly in circles as it led them around the station in a circuitous route, finally pausing in front of a solid metal wall.

"What?" Win asked, confused. "Why did we stop here?"

"Follow closely," said the RedCapBot again, moving towards the wall and vanishing smoothly behind it.

Win and his mom shot each other a dubious look, and then, shrugging his shoulders, Win approached the brushed metal surface of the wall and walked straight through it.

"It must have been a hologram," Win said to his mother, who muttered an affirmative statement.

Their attention soon turned from the holographic wall, however, to the vista in front of them. Win and his mom found themselves standing at the very tail end of an extra-wide MagLev train. With two levels and a train cab at either end, the UnderWater Express was an impressive sight. The train was shaped much like the atrium of the train station; a cylinder with the front chopped off at a slanted angle. Most MagLev trains looked like half of a cylinder with the chopped-off front, but this extra-large MagLev train was shaped like a full cylinder, and as such, it had two levels (much like a 21st century Amtrak Superliner). Running down the pristine white surface of the train was a wavy blue decal, and each car was embossed with the insignia for the UnderWater Express (an emblem which looked like a simple monorail in the front, but which melted into blue waves of various colors in the back).

"Follow me to first class," said the family's designated RedCapBot, and Win kicked up his HoverShoes and floated alongside the RedCapBot as it escorted him down the length of the platform. Finally, though, the RedCapBot stopped in front of the car behind the engine, and after interfacing with the car doors for a few seconds, the RedCapBot pointed its titanium finger inside the car and said, "First Class, UnderWater Express. This way please."

Obligingly, Win and his mom stepped into the bi-level sleeper car, and as the RedCapBot floated away to check their bags, the mother and son were riding the elevator platform up to the second floor, where their first class sleeper compartment awaited.

As they walked down the second floor hallway, Win wondered which sleeper was theirs, but this became startlingly obvious when a door whooshed open to his left. As each door was programmed to open only to the Pulse Band with the corresponding ticket, Win concluded rather obviously that the door to their left must lead to their compartment. As he passed through the small doorway, Win's eyes widened at the same time as his jaw dropped, both expressions in reaction to the extreme luxury facing him straight ahead.

Win had taken sleeper compartments in trains before, but never had they looked like the one on the UnderWater Express. Never had a sleeper compartment had twin beds not laid out in bunk style, but instead put side by side. Never had there been enough floor space in a sleeper car to fit in two small chairs. Never had the bathroom been large enough to walk around in. Never had the light fixtures, and door handles, and temperature knobs, and reading lights, and various other accents, been made of solid gold. Never had the fold-out tables been made of real cherry wood. And never had Win's jaw dropped lower than it did when he first saw the interior of this luxurious sleeper.

"Wow," Win said, his surprised face bathed in the golden light of the sleeper car, "Just…wow!"

"I can't say I disagree," said his mom, whose jaw had not dropped like Win's, but who still betrayed herself to be impressed by her hands, which Win knew always bound themselves rigidly to her body when she was pleasantly surprised.

Then, as the initial shock wore off, the mother and son began to act somewhat more normally as they deposited their carryon luggage in the spacious bins over the bed, and with nothing to do until the all aboard call was given, the two sat down in the opposite-facing chairs and said nothing. Even when the all aboard signal illuminated itself on his HUD, Win was still vigorously drinking in his surroundings. Soon after the all aboard had been called, a small safety video popped up in Win's left eye, but he muted the video and scurried to the large window behind the beds to watch the train exit the platform.

"Um… Win?" asked his mother, her eyes showing concern.

"Yeah?" Win asked back.

"You'd better take a seat," his mom said apprehensively.

"Why would I do thaAAAAAAAAH!" Win finished his sentence with a scream as the train sprang to life, going from 0 to 500mph in less than a second. As would only be predictable, the g-forces of such an acceleration would be intense, and Win found this out the hard way as he toppled over the bed and was laid flat against the wall, unable to move for several seconds as his body adjusted to the high-speed movement.

"That's why you sit down," said Win's mom, covering her mouth with her hand to hide a rather guilty smile at the slapstick humor of the situation.

Win, at this point, was stuck between being angry at his mother for laughing at him, and laughing at himself for the exact same reason as his mother was laughing. However, laughing really took a back seat to the more pressing physical issues Win was having, as Win was engaged in a fierce battle with the forces of nature as he struggled to free his limbs from the clutches of the intense g-forces.

After finally breaking free from the clutches of the hard, cold wall, Win walked slowly back to his chair, rubbing his sore spots, and after a few minutes of awkward silence, Win's mind turned to a new subject.

"When is dinner?" he asked of his mother.

"I don't really know," she admitted.

"You can't get the times on your Pulse Band?" Win inquired further.

"I don't know," his mom responded. "_You_ try it," she said.

Rolling his eyes, Win sent the pulse in command to his Pulse Band, and color and space blurred. Upon settling, the colors formed a very unique cyberworld.

The UnderWater Express's cyberworld was laid out in a very linear style, much like cars in a train, and it had obviously been extensively customized. The floor of this cyberworld was a solid gold color, distinguished from the other cyberworlds of Win's experience by the lack of grid squares on the floor. Instead of data towers, the train's cyberworld had data-seats, which were distributed in rows like seats in a coach. The wallpaper for this cyberworld looked almost exactly like the views outside Win's window in the sleeper car, leading him to the conclusion that the wallpaper must be a streaming video image from a camera on the outside of the train.

Remembering his purpose for pulsing in, Win began to walk through the train, headed for the cyber-diner car. On his way, he ran into other Navigators, who nodded cordially and wished him good day. Upon reaching the cyber-diner, Win found exactly what he was looking for: a holographic menu readout and dinner time sign up sheet. After signing himself and his mother up for dinner at the earliest time, Win put his Navigator's left palm on the hologram, and he sent a thought to his Pulse Band, telling it to download the data for the hologram. After saving the file, Win pulsed back out, his vision blurring back into the familiar sight of his sleeper cabin.

"Well?" asked Win's mom when he had returned.  
"Did you find out when dinner was?"

"Yeah, it's at seven," Win said back. "I put our names on the list."

"Good," said his mom.

"Oh, and I downloaded the menu, too. Hold on, I'll project it," said Win, rummaging in his pockets for the holographic projector attachment to his Pulse Band. Eventually finding it, Win clipped it into its correct slot in the very front of the pulse band, and sent a thought to his Pulse Band, telling it to project the image of the menu. After a few seconds, the holographic image of the menu flickered to life, and Win sent another thought to his Pulse Band, this time telling it to dim the polarized window in the train car, which, by this time, provided a very beautiful view of the ocean floor.

In the decreased light, Win and his mother browsed the menu. From the names of the foods on the menu, the train might have had its food catered by _Ché Merd_, as they all sounded French and looked expensive.

"Does our ticket include food?" asked Win, unable to see any prices next to the menu choices.

"Hold on a sec… I'll check and see," said his mom, training her focus on the HUD in her left eye. Then, after a brief pause, her eyes moved back to Win.

"Yes, I believe that the ticket says that our food is included," she said. Her next line was harder to catch, but Win thought that he heard her mutter "at least, I hope it is," under her breath. Win thought this odd that the family couldn't afford to eat fancy food like what was being served on the train, considering his father's position in the World Server Facility.

Seven o'clock came much more quickly than expected, and Win and his mom left their sleeper cabin for the dining car on the first call for dinner. Walking through the train, Win noticed that not all of the UnderWater Express was as luxurious as the First Class sleeper compartments; especially not the coach section. Although the seats were still nicely padded, there wasn't a hint of gold trim to be found anywhere, nor was there a bathroom as large as the one in the sleeper compartments. Yet, Win knew that these seats in coach, uncomfortable and un-luxurious as they seemed, were still horrendously expensive, and he realized as he was walking through coach class how much money the World Server Facility must have to burn in order to send the families of all the workers by First Class sleeper service.

As the boy and his mother entered the large diner car, Win's suspicions about the source of the UnderWater Express's food were proved correct. The interior of the dining car looked like a miniature replica of _Ché Merd_, complete with miniature crystal chandeliers and holographic menus in the tables. As if this were not enough, at the front of car was a Maitre D' station, and a man looking exactly like Heinrich was greeting the guests personally and escorting them to their tables. When the man who looked like Heinrich approached Win and his mother, he asked for the name on the reservation in a very thick French accent.

With the gears in his devious mind already turning, Win gave the Maitre D' their names, and then, adopting his best British accent, added,

"I am a friend of Maxmillion Edward Sullivan Rechefski III, and I'm sure he would have wanted me to have the Chateau Suite."

Win's mom raised her eyebrows, and she said to her son,

"What are you talking about, Win? Did I miss something?"

"Oh, right…" he said back, "You weren't there… I'll have to tell you what I mean over dinner."

Satisfied with this answer, Win's mom nodded quickly, and the Maitre D' addressed Win again:

"Does the young Monsieur really know Maxmillion Rechefski?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm close friends with him," said Win. "You look familiar, too… you look just like Heinrich the Maitre D' at _Ché Merd_."

"Ah, monsieur has a good eye," said the Maitre D'. "Heinrich is my older brother. I am Heimlich, at your service, monsieur."

"Good God," Win said to himself. "You two really are alike, down to the name and everything."

"You _will_ give us the Chateau Suite, right Heimlich?" said Win, continuing his impression of Maxey.

Apparently, Heimlich understood the joke, for he responded, "Ahem, monsieur, you see… well, the Chateau Suite is _occupied_."

"OCCUPIED?!" Win roared, and the two doubled over with laughter. With no idea what was going on, Win's mother gave him a polite shove, one which Win understood to mean "stop it, let's go eat dinner."

Having recovered from his laughing fit, Heimlich said to Win:

"Ah, yes… my brother told me about that unfortunate altercation." Then, straightening up again, Heimlich bowed gracefully and said, "If Monsieur and Madame will follow me, please."

Heimlich started moving, taking long, sweeping strides, and Win and his mother began following as the Maitre D' picked his way around the tables in the diner car. Eventually, he stopped at an empty table and gracefully pulled the chairs out for the two patrons, pushing them back in once they had sat down. As he walked away, two holographic menus flickered to life in front of Win and his mother, and the two began perusing the small holographic projection in front of them. The menu did not bear all that much examination, however, as the two had had more than ample time to decide on their food in the sleeper compartment, and before a minute was up, the two had made their choices and the menus had vanished.

"Lucky, isn't it?" asked Win's mom.

"What is?" enquired her son.

"We're eating alone. Usually you're seated with a perfect stranger on the train to conserve table space, but apparently not this time," she said as an explanation.

"Don't jinx it," said Win back, rapping three times on the table and crossing his fingers.

"Anyways," said his mother as the food was brought out by a WaiterBot, "You were going to tell me about that inside joke you made to the Maitre D'?" she asked, attempting to jog Win's memory.

"Oh! Right," Win said as he stared at his food, salivating.

Over dinner, Win related to his mom the events leading up to his visit to Hologo-Land. Although his mother knew of his heroic deeds at the theme park during the attack, she knew nothing of the night before; of the visit to _Ché Merd,_ or of the sleepover. So, Win attempted to enlighten her of the goings-on between the four friends on the night before the visit to the theme park.

"Well…" she said after hearing the segment about the altercation between Maxey and Veronica, "it sounds like Maxey pitched a royal fit that night." Something in her voice tone told him that she didn't approve of Maxey's behavior in front of his company that night, but Win tried to cover for him by saying:

"Yeah, he pitched a fit," Win admitted, "but considering what sort of person Veronica Worthingham turned out to be, I think that it's excusable."

"You know, you're right," said Win's mom, her voice tone lightening and going back to normal.

"Come to think of it," said Win, looking upwards in an attempt at thinking, "whatever happened to the Worthinghams?"

"According to NetNews, the head family members were arrested, and Projecto-Co is undergoing governmental inspection right now," responded Win's mom, pulling up an old NetNews e-mail and training her focus on her left eye as she talked.

"Ha!" said Win contentedly. "I'll bet the Rechefskis are overjoyed right now," he said, leaning back in his chair and cradling his head in his arms.

"Undoubtedly," responded his mother, nodding.

As the two had finished their dinner, Win and his mother got up from their chairs and began walking towards the exit of the diner car. As they picked their way through the tables, however, Win noticed two people who they passed were dressed exactly like Maxey and Giovanni. These two people, one an adult, one a small child of about seven years, were walking hand in hand, leading Win to believe that they were father and son. The more he looked at them, the more they reminded him of Maxey and Giovanni; the adult of the pair bore very close resemblance to the patriarch of Hologo-Co, and the smaller one looked like a miniature version of Maxey. The only difference between the appearance of the small child and Maxey was the color of the suit which he wore. Maxey always wore maroon, this boy wore a soft yellow color. However, all the accents on the suit were the same, and both the adult and child wore the same frilly ascot as Maxey and Giovanni wore.

Win's eyes met the eyes of the small child for a minute, and afterward, the boy began tugging on his father's sleeve. Bending down to hear what his son wanted to say, the father turned his ear to his son while he talked, turning his head at one point to look at Win.

"What's up, Win?" his mother asked. "Come on, let's go."

"Hold on a sec," said Win as he continued to watch the boy and his father.

Meanwhile, the boy had begun to point at Win, and the father shook his head vigorously. More insistent pointing on behalf of the child, however, forced the father to stand up and address Win, fidgeting uncomfortably at the impropriety of the situation as he did so.

"Excuse me," the man said to the motionless Win, "But my son wants to know if you are _the_ Windows Safari who saved our theme park, Hologo-Land a few weeks ago."

"Yes, that's me," said Win back to the Giovanni look alike. "I'm sorry, but are you of the Rechefski family?"

"Yes, that is correct," said the man. "I am Giovanni's younger brother, Bruto Rechefski, and this is my son, Torey."

Win shook the hands of Bruto and Torey in sequence, and afterwards, sensing Bruto's embarrassment at the situation, Win bowed out gracefully by saying,

"Well, I'm sure that I don't want to keep you from your dinner. Please, have a nice evening."

"Thank you, sir," said Bruto

"See ya, Win!" said Torey, who was hushed forcefully by his father the next second.

As the two families walked their separate ways, Win's mom leaned over to her son and whispered in his ear,

"Geez, Win, I never knew that you were so famous amongst the upper circles of society."

"Well," said Win, kind of embarrassed, "I guess if one is friends with the son of the owner of Hologo-Co, and if that someone saves the family's pet theme park from destruction, then it's hard not to be well known within the family."

"True dat," said his mother, adopting a ghetto accent in an attempt at humor.

Win chuckled slightly, and as the two were re-entering their sleeper car, he made one further observation:

"I kinda' feel sorry for Torey…" he said, half to himself, half to his mom.

"Why is that?" asked his mom.

"It just seems like his father forces him to observe decorum against his will, when all he wants is to be normal." Win said in a soft voice, which his mom knew that he adopted only when he was feeling pensive.

"What makes you think that?" his mom inquired further.

"Oh, I don't know…" said Win, thinking. "Just little things, I guess. Like, for instance, when he wanted to ask me who I was and his father was reluctant to do so, and how his father hushed him when he said goodbye to me."

"Well, they are the Rechefskis," said his mom. "From what you've told me, it seems like they value decorum and tradition more than anything in this world."

"Well, at least according to Maxey," said Win.

"Maybe you could be a good influence on Torey," said his mom, trying to be helpful.

"Yeah, wouldn't that be a novel idea," said Win, laughing to himself.

The two had finished readying themselves for bed by this point, and thus, they said "good night" to each other and turned out the light.

Win stayed awake for a long time, fitful in his attempts to sleep, and by the time he had finally closed his eyes around midnight, he was woken again by a strange announcement.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," said a voice over the PA system, "This is your engineer speaking."

Win blinked sleepily. "Why the hell is he making an announcement at this time of night?" he wondered.

"I regret to inform you that we have had a change in schedule. The next stop is no longer Tokyo Station; rather, it has been changed to a stop called 'your doom.'"

As the conductor said the words 'your doom,' Win was thrown back in his bed as he felt the train accelerating rapidly, far surpassing the speed limit for the track.

"This stop has been brought to you by the glorious NetDoom Cult," the conductor continued. "We will be arriving in half-an-hour. Have a nice trip…to your doom!" he concluded, cackling wickedly.

"Oh, crap…" Win said, un-sticking himself from the bed. "Why does the NetDoom Cult always have to attack when I'm around?" he asked as he reached for his Pulse Band. Not even bothering to leave the bed, Win secured the black, chip studded band around his head and sent it a very familiar command:

"Pulse in: Win Safari Execute! Transmit: UnderWater Express Cyberworld."

Win's world darkened into the amorphous mass of color as his brainwaves were processed in the World Server Facility, and eventually his navigator took his first step into the train's cyberworld.

His navigator did not take any more steps than the first one, however, as a large cyber-security cube imprisoned him upon entry. Through its translucent walls, Win could see water-based viruses hacking away at the data-seats of the train's cyberworld, and at the very front of the train, Win feigned that he saw the shadow of a NetDoom Navigator, interfacing with the train control panel.

Seeing as he wasn't going to get any deleting done by standing in his cube of imprisonment, Win loaded his trusty WaterSword and took a powerful swipe at the walls of the cube. However, the security was…well… 'secure' enough to repel his Battle Drive, so seeing no other choice, Win loaded his favorite Galactic Bomb, stuck it to the wall, and detonated it.

The bomb did not disappoint. Immediately upon detonation, the cube shattered into millions of zeroes and ones, but it was not the only thing that shattered. As the shockwave from the bomb swept down the cyber-train cars, large cracks in the floor and wallpaper formed, and since the train was underwater, the cracks began to gush cyber-water. To any normal Navigator, this would have been a catastrophic turn of events, but to a highly customized Navigator like Win's, the situation couldn't have been better. Since Win's armour was turquoise, this meant that not only was he well-defended against water, but that he could use the water as a source of energy by absorbing it (much like the green navigator Win had fought in the previous battle).

Smiling openly, Win loaded a WaterCannon Battle Drive and ran straight for the first water-style virus he could find. These watery viruses looked slightly different from the previous ones Win had fought, as they had no defined shape. Rather, they just looked like a large drop of water with an angry emoticon face, and they could give off smaller droplets of water which could mold into cannons and swords.

As Win approached one such virus, it turned its angry face to him and gave off a droplet of water, which promptly molded into a WaterCannon, just like the Battle Drive Win was currently sporting. As the virus moved to attack, Win quickly switched the cannon from 'blast' mode to 'absorb' mode, and when the virus began blasting a stream of cyber-water at Win, he pointed his cannon at the cyber-water and began to absorb it.

As the cannon absorbed more and more water from the virus (which had no idea that it was helping the Navigator, not hurting it), Win felt his Navigator swelling with power. The more water he absorbed, the stronger the Navigator became, and when Win's Navigator was fairly glowing with a watery aura, Win approached the virus and flicked it with one finger.

The result was amazing, even to Win. Upon being hit with the flick, the virus immediately shattered into millions of zeroes and ones.

"Wow…" thought Win. "This is amazing!" he said as he flicked another virus for the fun of it. "If I could battle like this all the time…" he said, his eyes glinting mischievously, "Maxey wouldn't stand a chance against me, ever!"

The water flooding the cyberworld had become knee-high by this time, and Win could feel his power increasing with every inch that the cyber-water rose. Remembering suddenly why he was in the cyberworld in the first place, Win made a fist, cranked his HoverShoes to full blast and made huge waves as he zoomed towards the Navigator controlling the UnderWater Express. Flicking viruses as he went along, Win soared towards the control panel and the NetDoom Navigator, but he was stopped in his haste by a very unexpected sight.

A tiny little red Navigator, clad in a tuxedo with a frilly ascot and minimal armor, was locked in mortal combat with a small virus, apparently fighting for his life. With a hunch as to who this pitiful-looking Navigator belonged to, Win sauntered over to the virus and flicked it. Panting hard, the small Navigator picked himself up off the watery ground and looked up at Win. The face was unmistakable; it was the face of Torey Rechefski.

"Hey, Win," said the small Navigator, breathless.

"Torey, are you out of your mind?!" Win yelled. "Pulse out, now!"

"No!" yelled the adorably determined seven-year-old. "I'm going to save the train!"

"NO! TOREY, GET BACK HERE! THEY'LL KILL YOU!" Win screamed at the little Navigator, who had blasted away on his HoverShoes.

Torey just waved.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Win screamed as he blasted after the little kid. Torey was going to screw up Win's plan completely; without interference, Win would have had no trouble deleting the NetDoom Navigator. However, things got a lot more complicated when you added protecting a little kid into the mix. With his new-found water power, Win could easily delete Torey without even noticing that he'd done so.

Win was juggling these thoughts in his head as he sped after Torey's Navigator, but when he reached the control panel and the NetDoom Navigator, he saw that things were about to get a lot worse.

Upon sensing Win's approach, the glowing blue Navigator who had been controlling the UnderWater Express turned around to face Win. Beneath his right arm, however, this blue Navigator held Torey's Navigator hostage, and he was using him as a civilian shield.

"Well, this is a new low," Win said to the Navigator as he approached. "Using little kids as shields… that's really awful."

The blue Navigator cackled, and Win recognized it as the same cackle he had heard on the PA announcement. "Well, it seems to work, doesn't it?" he said sarcastically.

"We'll see," said Win, already formulating a plan. As Win turned down the intensity of his WaterCannon to about 1%, the blue Navigator charged Win with a WaterSword, but instead of boosting out of the way like he usually did, Win grabbed the WaterSword with his free hand. Normally this would have hurt him, but due to the extensive water power Win was wielding right now, he felt absolutely no pain. While Win held the blue Navigator at bay, he aimed his WaterCannon directly at Torey's face and let the little kid have it.

While on the outside this attack might have seemed malicious, to Win it was a strategic move. Since he had powered his cannon down to a blast equivalent to that of a Super Soaker, the water jet did not hurt Torey. Rather, it just made him squirm; an action which Win was counting on. Due to the discomfort of the situation, Torey was motivated to wrench himself free from his captor, which he eventually did, but not without effort.

Once he had made sure that Torey was safely out of harm's way, Win recharged his cannon with the ambient water, and with the full strength of his water power-ups, Win blasted the blue Navigator before he had even a chance to scream.

The cannon had the desired effect. Although water-based attacks usually didn't affect a Navigator with blue armor, the added strength that Win was drawing from the ambient cyber-water made the attack into an ultra-powerful one-hit KO. Once the blue Navigator had shattered into millions of zeroes and ones, Win accessed the train's control panel, and returned the train to its normal speed and schedule. Even on the net, Win feigned that he felt the g-forces being exerted on his body decrease as he walked over to the soggy Torey and picked him up.

"You okay?" Win asked, his eyes showing concern.

"Yes…" said Torey with a low voice. He sniffled and tried to choke back tears.

"I'm really sorry that I squirted you," Win said, looking for the right words for this kind of apology. "I just needed you out of the way."

The words "out of the way," seemed to release some sort of internal bomb in Torey, for he broke down completely at this point, sobbing uncontrollably.

Win didn't know quite what to do, but he bend down and patted Torey on his cyber-head. "It's alright," he consoled. "I know you wanted to save the train," Win said, his hands stroking Torey in what he feigned was a comforting action.

"No…" sobbed Torey. "It's not alright. I'm always in the way! I'll never be a help to anybody!" he said to Win, distraught.

"No, I don't think so," said Win. "I think that before this is over, you'll have some very important part to play. Trust me."

"Really," said the small boy, holding back his sobs.

"Yes, really,' said Win, giving him one last pat. "Now do me a favor, alright?"

"Yeah," said Torey, still sniffling.

"Pulse out now. Go and get some sleep," said Win.

"Okay..." said Torey. "Thank you, Win," he said, looking Win straight in the eye as he faded into a mass of color, ultimately exiting from the cyberworld.

Walking over to the cyber-control panel, Win picked up the cyber-microphone and addressed the train on the PA system.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is not your engineer speaking. Rather, this is the Navigator of Win Safari, telling you that a stop has been removed from the schedule. This train will now be stopping at Tokyo Station only; 'your doom' has been circumvented. Thank you and have a nice night."

As he pulsed back into the real world, Win could hear cheering coming from the other sleeper compartments, and as he took off his Pulse Band and prepared to go back to sleep, he was addressed by his mother.

"Once again, you've saved the lives of innocent people from the NetDoom Cult, Win," she said. "I'm very proud of you, Win."

"Yeah," said Win, yawning. "I've kind of gotten used to it, but thanks anyway."

"Okay, I get what that means," said his mother in a teasing voice. "You want to sleep, so I won't keep you from doing so."

"Thank you," said Win, grateful from the bottom of his heart.

"Oh, no. If anything, I should be thanking you, Win…Win?" she asked, looking over at his bed.

But Win had fallen fast asleep.


	6. Chapter 6: In the World Server Facility

Chapter 6: The People and PETs of the World Server Facility.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your engineer speaking" said a voice decidedly not that of the blue Navigator over the PA system.

Win sat up and rubbed his eyes. "My god," he grumbled. "It feels like I haven't slept more than ten minutes! What does he want now?" he asked of himself.

"Due to the NetDoom Cult attack, this train had picked up a considerable amount of time," the engineer continued. "As such, we will be arriving in Tokyo Station in a very few minutes. Please take this time to gather your belongings and make sure that you do not leave anything on the train. Once again, Tokyo Station in five minutes.

Win's mom had already been up, and she had obliged to the engineer's request. All the family's belongings were neatly piled near the door, and as she approached Win, she said,

"Better get dressed, sleepy-head! We don't want to miss the sub," she said, poking him gently.

Win faked a slap at her hand as he sat up in bed. "Clothes…" he muttered.

"Over here," said his mom, who understood her son's crude speech in the morning.

Win stumbled over to where his mom was pointing, and, grabbing his clothes, he disappeared into the bathroom. He emerged a minute later fully clad, and as the train had stopped by this point, Win took a hover bag and followed his mother down the moving walkway and onto the station platform.

As the mother and child exited the train, they were met by a rather unusual sight. A _real person _was standing with a _real sign_ that read "Safari Family," was standing on the platform, waiting to meet Win and his mom as they exited from the first class sleeper car.

"Safari Family?" he asked as they approached.

"Yes, that's us," said Win's mom. "Are you from 'The Marine Center?'" she asked for security.

"What?" asked the man, raising one eyebrow. Then, after thinking for a few seconds, his eyes widened and he said, "Oh, _that _Marine Center… Yes, of course, that's where I'm from. Now, please follow me closely and stay alert. The submarine is waiting."

"Where are our bags?" inquired Win's mother.

"I've arranged for a RedCapBot to bring them to the submarine. Now, if you please, time is of the essence," said the guide.

Satisfied, Win and his mom obligingly followed the man with the sign as he led them around Tokyo station in a circuitous route, much like the RedCapBot had done in Server City Union Station. Eventually, the man stopped in front of another metal wall, and Win thought to himself "Please, don't use the same trick twice. It's way too predictable."

Fortunately for Win, however, the trick was slightly different. Instead of walking through the wall, the man placed his hand on the wall and sent a command with his Pulse Band. A moment later, an invisible set of doors slid away, revealing a small elevator platform. Gesturing with his head for the two to move quickly inside, the guide pressed a holographic button, pulse-transmitted an access code, and sent the elevator rocketing downwards. Through small windows in the elevator shaft, Win could see that the elevator was taking them deep underwater, an observation which was confirmed when Win's ears began to pop. Eventually, however, the elevator came to an abrupt stop, and Win was faced with a very unique sight; the interior of a submarine.

This was no ordinary submarine. It was a small one, one of many used by the 'Marine Center,' and had been designed with transport of passengers in mind. On the exterior, the sub looked like an enlarged version of the Gungan submarine from the 21st century movie _Star Wars Episode I_. On the interior, the sub was laid out like five motor-coaches shoved together; five columns of 4-row seating made up the floor space, with lavatories lining the back wall and an impressive windshield in the front. From this windshield, one could see the expanse of the Sea of Japan spreading out before them, and Win feigned that he saw the World Server Facility very far in the distance.

After allowing the family a brief moment to absorb the surroundings, the usher escorted Win and his mother into the main body of the sub, allowing them to claim whichever seat they chose. The sub was virtually empty, so Win naturally chose a front-row seat in the very center of the sub, in order to see out the windshield better.

"Why is the sub so empty?" inquired Win of the guide.

"Because your train was the first to get in," said the guide. "That NetDoom attack caused your train to go significantly faster than it was supposed to, so you guys shaved a good three hours off your journey."

"Yeah..." said Win, remembering the attack. "Wait…our train wasn't the only one transporting families?"

"Oh, good God no," said the guide. "Do you think that we'd put all the families at risk like that? No, some took trains, some flew, some drove… but everyone is supposed to meet up here, one way or the other. In fact, the only other family of an employee of the facility riding your train was Bruto and Torey Rechefski.

Somehow, Win knew it. He had known it from the start. Anxious to see if Torey was all right, he quickly asked the guide where the two were sitting. The guide pointed at two people in the front row a few columns over, and Win kicked up his HoverShoes and floated over to Maxey's uncle and cousin.

"Mr. Rechefski?" asked Win respectfully when he had navigated to their position.

"Ah, Windows," said Bruto cheerfully. "I want to thank you most sincerely for saving my son during the attack. He told me all about it."

A colloquial phrase on the tip of his tongue, Win remembered Maxey's decorum lesson and said, "You are too kind, Mr. Rechefski."

Bruto nodded pleasantly, the nod seeming to express his pleasure to meet a youth with such fine manners.

"Actually," Win continued, "I wanted to see how Torey was doing. He seemed pretty upset last time we met."

"I'm fine now," said Torey, looking straight into Win's eyes.

"Glad to hear that," said Win. A few seconds of awkward silence followed, and as it was clear that Torey wasn't going to start up a new conversation, Win took it upon himself to change the topic.

"I'm good friends with your cousin," began Win anew. "Maxmillion Rechefski?" he asked, attempting to jog the small boy's memory.

"You know Maxey?!" asked Torey, his face brightening and his eyes sparkling as he said his cousin's name.

"Yes, I'm close friends with him. We go to the same school and everything."

"Ohhhh…" said Torey, his eyes widening even more. "You're _that_ Win Safari!"

"Yes, I'm _that_ Win Safari," said Win, unsure what "_that_ Win Safari" was supposed to mean.

"Maxey talks a lot about you," said Torey as Win took a seat next to him. "He tells me how you beat him in NetBattles all the time."

Win laughed slightly at this. "Yeah, I do always beat him. He's always angry at me for it, and he always looks for new ways to beat me."

"So he tells me," said Torey. "Gosh, I really ought to have made that connection…" he said, suddenly looking down.

"What connection?" asked Win.

"I should have connected the Win that Maxey knows to the Win who saved Hologo-Land, but I didn't get that until you told me that you knew Maxey," the small boy explained. Win was struck by this small child's intelligence level and his vocabulary, but showed no evidence of this impression when he gave his reply.

"You didn't have to connect that, Torey!" Win said with incredulity written all over his face. "My God, you're just a kid!"

"Yes… I guess," said Torey, lost in thought and looking down. "Hey, Win?" he said at last, looking back at him.

"Yeah?" Win asked.

"Will you NetBattle me?" asked Torey innocently.

Win was struck again by the bluntness of the request. "Yeah, sure… I guess,' he responded, faltering. "Why do you want to battle me all of a sudden?" he asked of his young challenger.

"Maxey always talks about how good you NetBattle, so I wanted to see for myself," Torey said.

"Okay, fair enough," said Win, who always was ready for a challenge. "Pulse into Tokyo Net Square, I'll meet you there," he said.

"Roger!" said Torey, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Pulse in: Win Safari Execute," Win thought to his Pulse Band. Without a transmit point specified, Win's Pulse Band transmitted his Navigator to the nearest NetSquare, which was, in this case, Tokyo NetSquare.

Once pulsed in, Win looked above the heads of the thousands of Navigators roaming the NetSquare for Torey's diminutive Navigator. Eventually he found it, interfacing with the coliseum rental program.

"Oh, hey Win," said the Navigator. I got us a coliseum. Let's battle!"

"This kid's way too eager…" Win thought to himself.

And so, Win followed Torey's diminutive Navigator into one of the many coliseums in Tokyo NetSquare. NetSquares were about as polished a cyberworld as you could get. Most of them looked like actual cityscapes, with textured floors which felt like roads, and actual shops and services built into the walls of the data towers. NetSquare coliseums looked much like the training arenas at Win's school, except minus the data-trees and yellow floor. It was into one of these large battling pits that Torey led Win, and the two immediately began prepping for battle.

Win gave his small opponent a thorough stare. Torey's Navigator wore minimal armour, but what he did wear was bright red with no apparent weakness ("typical of a rich kid to have that type of armour," thought Win). With expensive armour, Win expected that Torey would have expensive Battle Drives as well, but he also expected that those Battle Drives would be sporadic and non-effective, just like Maxey's.

At any rate, since Torey's armour was red, which denoted strength with fire, Win loaded his trusty WaterSword and an AquaShield as backup. Once both opponents had selected their Battle Drives, a large hologram popped up above the arena.

It began to count down…

"3…"

"2…"

"1…"

"FIGHT!"

A cyber-bell rang, and Win flew at Torey with the full strength of his rocket-powered HoverShoes, sword outstretched. Through his Navigator's speed-blurred eyes, Win could see the small red Navigator beginning to move, but Win was going too fast for anyone to avoid…wasn't he?

Just as Win's WaterSword was set on a crash course for Torey's cyber-skull, however, a truly unexpected event occurred. Torey's Navigator seemed to simply vanish in front of his eyes. Win looked around himself, trying to find where the little twerp had teleported to, but his searches were cut short by a sharp and powerful blow to his backside, which sent him flying forward. As Win landed on smack on his face, he turned himself over quickly to find Torey. It didn't take much searching, however, as he found Torey standing over his head, a very large, glowing purple cannon attached to his right arm. As this canon had its sights trained directly on Win at point blank range, the turquoise Navigator with red undertones attempted to stall for time while he planned his next move.

"Wow… A ZetaCannon…" said Win. "Very expensive… and very powerful," he added, his fearful eyes gleaming with fake envy.

Win's calculated stalling tactic worked, as this one bit of admiration for the canon launched young Torey into a Maxey-esque monologue about how great his Battle Drives were. While Torey was rambling, however, Win loaded his WaterSword again and with his free hand, he knocked the legs out from under his small opponent. Win then proceeded to stab Torey's navigator with the full force of the blade, and the minute the sword had exited the Navigator's body, the large hologram above the coliseum floor declared Win to be the winner.

After the two boys had pulsed back out, Win expected Torey to break into tears at any point. However, the small seven-year old simply smiled and said cheerfully to Win:

"Yeah, I guess I didn't expect anything less… now I can see why Maxey reveres you."

"Yeah…" said Win, pondering the significance of the word 'reveres' in Torey's last sentence. "Your strategy wasn't half-bad, though," continued Win at length. "I've just had experience with NetBattles, so I could deal with it. But yeah," said Win, patting young Torey on the shoulder, "That strategy would've probably fooled any NetDoom Navigator."

"Thanks, Win!" said Torey, his eyes shining with pride at the compliment.

"Come to think of it," said Win, lightly scratching his head, "Why didn't you do that same move on the train?" he enquired of the young boy.

"Water hurts me… a _lot_," said Torey, looking down. "I was really suffering that night after you Galactic Bombed the train."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," said Win, "With your fire-based armour."

While the two had been talking and battling, neither one noticed that the submarine was rapidly filling up with people, and eventually, one woman was forced to approach Win and ask if his seat was taken.

"Oh! no…" said Win, startling at the interjection. "Please, by all means," he continued, rising from his seat and making a sweeping gesture, which indicated for her to sit where he had left a vacant spot.

After the woman had taken Win's seat, Win turned to Torey and Bruto and bade them both farewell.

"See you at the party," said Win, leaning over to address Torey specifically.

"Yeah! Bye Win," said Torey, enthusiastically.

As the "all aboard" call had just been given, Win scurried back to his seat next to his mom, who began asking questions as soon as he had seated himself.

"Who's your young friend?" she asked, leaning over to talk to him quietly. "He looks a lot like Maxey," she added as an afterthought.

"Well, that's no surprise," said Win, oblivious to his mother's ignorance of who Torey was. "He is Maxey's cousin, after all."

"???" his mother said, bewildered and surprised.

"Ohhh…right," said Win, his eyes widening as he realized how ignorant his mother was of the situation. "I never told you about that night on the train."

"Nope," his mom said, shaking her head.

"Ok, I'll tell you as we ride over to the 'Marine Center," said Win as he felt the sub give a great lurch as it was released from its docking clamp. As the scenery began to move, so too did Win's lips as he related the events of his battle on the train and his other battle with Torey to his mother. As his mother sat spellbound by his story, Win's attention began to drift from storytelling to the scenery outside the excessively large windshield, which revealed Win's first view of the World Server Facility.

In an age of technology, the only place on earth that had to really be physically secure was this floating server-farm. The facility itself floated several thousand feet above the ocean floor, and it was anchored to the ocean floor by four exceedingly large chains. As for how the facility looked, it was fairly flat on top and shaped like a curvy plus sign. A large upside-down dome underneath this stylized plus-sign housed the core of the digital world; the servers. As such, the dome looked to have been re-enforced with layer-after-layer of carbon and stainless steel. The exterior of the dome was coated with several-hundred feet of thick TemperFoam (a very malleable substance which could assume any shape), which looked like it could absorb the impact of a nuclear weapon.

Floating above the plus-sign part of the facility, and secured by more large chains, was one of the largest antennas Win had ever seen. Cables, which must have been several hundred feet in diameter, ran directly from the dome section of the facility to this gigantic antenna. The antenna, Win later found out, broadcast its signal to one of three satellites in geosynchronous orbit around the earth, (meaning that they orbited the earth at exactly the same speed as earth's rotation), which would then be able to transmit that signal to any location on the planet.

It was to a point directly underneath this gigantic floating antenna that the submarine sped. Straining his eyes, Win discerned a very small opening, which contained docking facilities for the sub. In a very few minutes, the submarine had entered this small hole (which suddenly seemed quite a bit bigger), and Win felt a great lurch as a docking clamp was applied to the underside of the transport sub.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" said the sub captain over the PA system. These simple three words sent chills running down Win's spine as he remembered once more the late-night attack on the UnderWater Express.

"…Thank you for your patience, and welcome to the World Server Facility. That's right, no more need to call it the 'Marine Center,'" the captain continued, pausing to accommodate the light laughter from the audience.

"As an employee of this facility, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you on behalf of our entire staff to the first annual Server Facility Reunion," said the captain. "Now, I'm sure all the wives and husbands in this submarine are anxious to see their spouses, and that all the kids are equally as anxious to see their dads and moms, so we've arranged for guides to meet each individual family."

"Novel idea, that…" thought Win. "they must have stopped half their operations to spare that much staff."

"When you exit the sub, please seek out the robot displaying your name with its holographic projector. It will escort you to your spouse/parent's living quarters," continued the sub captain.

"Ah… that explains it," said Win to himself.

"Now, please exit through the door in the rear of the sub, and have a nice day in the World Server Facility," concluded the captain. The minute his speech had concluded, Win was up and hovering at full speed towards the rear, filled with excitement at the prospect of seeing his dad after so long. Exiting the sub, Win floated down an escalator and found himself in a sterile white hallway with one large door at the end. Bursting through this door, Win found himself in another series of sterile white hallways, which Win realized to be the center of the plus-sign figure he had seen from the outside. Just as the sub captain had predicted, a very large row of sterile, white floating disks (which Win recognized as security bots) were lining the hallways; each one projecting a name. Since they appeared to go in alphabetical order, Win began to float down the hall, looking intently for the "S" section.

"Ok," Win said as he floated past the "R's." "Let's see, there's Sherman…Selma…Server…Sangre…Ah! Safari!" Win said out loud as he stopped in front of the disk projecting his family's last name.

When his mother had caught up with him in front of their robot, Win swiped the hologram with his hand, and the security bot immediately turned it's electronic eye to face Win. After performing retinal scans on both Win and his mother, the security bot uttered the simple phrase:

"Identity confirmed as: Windows and…" the robot said Win's mom's name, "…Safari. Please follow me.

The robot began moving very fast, and Win and his mom had to run to keep up with it. Even on his hover shoes, the robot posed a challenge to keep up with, as it floated above the heads of the throngs of people crowding the halls, whereas Win and his mom had to cut a path through the crowd. Eventually, after a bit of a struggle, the robot led the boy and mother to an elevator platform on the north side of the plus-sign. As the family boarded the small white square, the security bot interfaced with the control panel and sent the platform rocketing down into the 'dome' section of the facility, where the servers were housed.

"Network Safari is working on floor S-M at present."

"S-M?" said Win to himself. "What kind of a floor name is that?"

"Server-Mezzanine," said the security robot back, causing Win to jump and activate the neurological safety freezers. He had absolutely not expected the security robot to have a high enough level of artificial intelligence to understand sarcasm.

"Wow…" he said aloud when his brain had recovered. "I guess that's why this is the most technologically advanced place on earth," he said, amazed.

"Yes, that's right, Windows," said the floating white disk back. "Anyway, your father is working on floor S-M at present, so I am escorting you to him."

"Thank you, bot… I guess?" said Win, amazed that he was having this level of conversation with a security robot.

"You're welcome," the bot said back.

As the elevator platform hurtled down into the belly of the facility, Win could catch small glimpses of the servers through tiny windows in the elevator shaft. Before he could get a good look, however, the elevator stopped abruptly in a large, wide open area, which looked like an observation deck. Towards the front of this area, a large set of bullet-proof, double-reinforced glass panes provided a breathtaking view of the technological hub which was the source of life for net society. Just underneath this huge set of windows were a set of control panels, which were displaying detailed readouts on, get this, _actual monitors_ (truly ancient technology by that time). Win cared little for the view of the servers or the control panel, however, as something far more important than the technological marvels outside the window had caught his attention.

A tall man in a white lab coat was typing furiously at one of the archaic control stations, apparently lost in thought. Thinking that he might know who this mystery man was, Win silently hovered up to the coated figure and covered the poor man's eyes and mouth with his two hands.

The man started and went rigid for a few seconds, but upon hearing Win's exclamation of "Guess who!?" he relaxed and pulled his attacker's hands off his eyes and mouth. As he turned around, Win saw that it really was his father, and as such, he tackled him with a hug. Unfortunately, Win caught his poor father off guard, and Netto tripped over his own feet, falling directly onto the control panel where he had been working. The unsuspecting terminal let out a set of discontented beeps as the father and son kissed and laughed. No words seemed to be necessary at this moment; both father and son seemed to be able to express their joy in the nonverbal fashion that can only happen between a parent and his child. As the two picked themselves back up, Win's mom came rushing over to her husband, and the two embraced in a long, dramatic kiss.

Not able to resist the opportunity this time, Win stuck his tongue out and said "bleaaach!" A feeling of relief passed over him afterwards as he remembered all the times he'd had to restrain himself from doing the aforementioned action.

At any rate, Netto laughed again at his son's reaction, and he leaned over to his son to whisper in his ear.

"When you're married, and you've been away from your wife for years, you see if you do that tongue action again."

"I probably will," said Win in his father's favorite sarcastic voice. After one more laugh, Netto regained his composure and addressed his family with a straight face.

"So…" he began, looking for words. "Welcome to where I work," he said, gesturing to the control panel with a sweeping motion of his hand.

"I had no idea that you worked in the control room for the world's servers," said Win, turning his attention once again to the servers outside the window.

"Yeah, I couldn't really tell you that," said Netto. "Top secret governmental stuff, you know."

"Yeah," said Win, nodding understandingly. "What is it that you do here, anyway?" he asked.

"Sorry, Win. Can't tell you that, either." Netto said with a frown.

"Not even to your son?" Win said, snuggling up to his dad like a two year old.

"No, sorry, not even to my own son," he said, patting Win on the head.

"Aww…" said Win, looking down. Then, his attention span having run out on this particular point, Win turned his attention to the impressive servers outside the window.

"Pretty impressive looking," Win commented.

"You want to get a closer look?" asked Netto, his face brightening considerably.

"You can actually take us down there!?" said Win, his eyes widening with surprise and excitement.

"Yeah!" said Netto in a tone just as excited as Win's. "I can give you guys the really deluxe tour of this place."

"Wow…" said Win, shocked and amazed. "You must have a really important position to get access to that room," he said to his dad.

"Okay, I'll give you that much," said Netto. "You're right, I do have a very important job. Now, hold on a sec… I'll get us down to the server level," Netto said, pacing the length of the mezzanine level. After about five paces, he began stomping on the metal floor, listening intently to the pitch that resulted from the stomp. At last, Netto stopped, apparently having found what he wanted, and beckoned for the family to come stand right next to him. When the family was all standing close to him, Netto transmitted something with his Pulse Band, and then immediately afterward, a small square of floor beneath them began descending.

When the hidden elevator platform stopped, Win's dad dimmed his son's vision via his pulse band.

"And now…" he said dramatically, "Let me welcome you to the epicenter of the world... The center of Net Society…The heart and brain of all technology worldwide; The World Server Facility Server Room!"

When Win's vision cleared, he found himself looking at a sight that looked like something out of science fiction. Thousands of large black towers, at least ten stories tall, were stacked and arranged in rows all along the floor of the inverse dome. Each tower, Netto told Win and his mom, housed 1,000,000,000 Yottabytes (a Yottabyte is 1,000,000 000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes), a truly titanic amount of memory. However, absolutely gigantic as this number of bytes was, according to Netto, the server room would regularly meet 80% capacity every day; a fact which absolutely boggled Win's mind.

In the very center of this field of bytes, there was a small black cube with green circuitry-lines criss-crossing across its surface.

"What the heck is this thing?" asked Win, running a respectful finger across its glowing surface. He had to withdraw his finger quickly, however, as the black cube was incredibly hot.

" 'What the heck is this thing?' " Netto parroted. "This cube is the true heart of the world. All those servers just provide RAM, but this thing…" Netto paused to pat the hot black cube respectfully. "…This thing is the Server Facility's CPU."

"Wow…" said Win, now feeling honored to have touched the world's CPU.

"Exactly," said Netto. "It's really fun to pulse into the internet standing right next to this thing, because it's blazing fast! Unfortunately…" Netto said, his voice tone darkening, "If this single cube was damaged in any way, the world would completely shut down."

"That's pretty serious…" said Win, now treating the cube with even more reverence.

"Yes, it is. And with the attack on your train… a train which was supposed to be top-secret… we're all very worried about this little cube's safety," said Netto, his voice lowering to a whisper, which Win knew only happened when something was weighing heavily on his father's mind.

"But, enough of that!" said Netto, trying to assume his normal personality once more. Let me show you where I live… actually, it'll be where _we_ live for a few days."

"We…" said Win's mother, sighing and fluttering her eyebrows. "Such a nice word," she said, laying her head on Netto's shoulder.

Win held his tongue in his mouth this time, despite the temptation to stick it out again, and followed the lovey-dovey couple as they boarded the elevator platform and rose back to the server control panel.

As the family boarded another elevator platform which was labeled "employee quarters," Win asked of his father another question:

"When is the party?"

"All day tomorrow," said Netto, turning to face Win. I'd take you to the room where the whole thing will be going down, but that would undoubtedly spoil the surprise... and what a surprise…" said Win's dad, whistling softly to himself. "It's the first party we've ever had, so everyone's going waaaay overboard… We even contracted with Hologo-Co and…"

"Hologo-Co?" Said Win, surprised. Suddenly, the appearance of a Rechefski on the UnderWater Express made a lot more sense.

"Oh, crap…" said Netto, fake-slapping himself. "I shouldn't have said that much, but the cat is out of the bag now. Yes, we contracted with Hologo-Co, and I'm not saying a word more."

"I thought that this facility is top-secret and completely restricted access, though," said Win dubiously. "How did you guys get an order to Hologo-Co without compromising the facility?"

"Ok, reasonable question," said Netto, scratching his head and thinking of how to phrase a response. "I never told you this before, because…well…I really didn't think you were that interested, but 49% of the stock of Hologo-Co is held by this facility. The other 50% is owned by the owning family, the Rechefskis, and the remaining 1% is for public consumption. So, we have a lot of contact with Hologo-Co, and vice-versa."

"Ok, but one more question…" began Win.

"Geez, Win, I'd expect nothing less from my son, but are you absolutely determined to know all the secrets of this facility?" Netto asked, his voice tone a confusing blend of seriousness and sarcasm.

"Sorry…" said Win, looking down. "Just one more?" he asked, making his best innocent face.

"Oh, all right," said Netto. "Just one more, then."

"What was the reason for this facility to buy all that controlling stock?" Win asked.

"Geez, you are just full of reeeally good and reeeallly compromising questions, Win," said his father, patting his son on the back. "Ok…You know from experience that us employees can't leave for very long periods of time, right?"

"Right…" Win said, remembering all the times he had missed his father.

"Well, then…" his father continued, "Who does maintenance on important above-ground installations for us?" he asked.

"Hologo-Co…" Win said, getting a glimpse of the truth.

"Exactly!" shouted Netto. "And if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Hologo-Co is a very prestigious and respected company which has access contracts to many important governmental sites. So, it was a perfectly obvious move to get them under our thumb…" said Win's dad, his face darkening. "'Cost us a bloody fortune to buy all that stock, but it's paid for itself five and six times over."

"Interesting," said Win aloud. A lot of things made a whole lot more sense to him. Bruto and Torey's appearance, Maxey and Giovanni's wealth, the company's access to such cutting-edge technology.

"Maxey never told me about any of this," Win said somewhat bitterly under his breath. "But... then again…" Win said, coming to his senses, "I guess he couldn't really tell me, either. Top secret government stuff and all that."

"Right," said Netto. "But I didn't know that you knew any of the Rechefskis," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"What? I never told you?" said Win, amazed at how ignorant his family was of his affairs.

"Told me what?" asked Netto, cocking his head sideways in confusion.

"I go to the same school as Maxmillion Edward-Sullivan Rechefski III, I'm close friends with him, I've met Giovanni Rechefski, I rode on the train with Bruto and Torey Rechefski, and I've enraged Maxey many times by beating him and his expensive Navigator." Said Win quickly, talking himself breathless.

Netto whistled softly again. "Wow… I never knew that you had friends in such high places, Win. I'm officially impressed."

"Thanks," said Win, looking down and feigning that he was blushing with embarrassment.

"You know, 'Maxey,' as you call him, is here with Giovanni," Netto concluded as the elevator platform finally alighted in the employee quarters hallway.

Win nearly jumped six feet with excitement. "Maxey's here?!" he asked, his eyes sparkling. "I thought that only Torey was here."

"No, both Giovanni and Bruto, the controlling brothers, are here with their kids," said Netto as he began walking down the hall.

"Well," thought Win, calming down a bit, "this party just got a lot more fun."

"When do I get to see him?" asked Win of his father, who was beginning to feel quite bombarded with questions by this point.

"Relax, Win, relax!" said Netto, tousling his son's hair. "You'll see him at the party tomorrow."

In fact, Netto was wrong on this point, for as he said this last line, one of the doors lining the hallway flew open and Maxey and Torey came rushing out on their HoverShoes. It seemed as if Torey was chasing Maxey with a right mind to tear his head off, but neither of them in their frenzy seemed to notice that Win was squarely in their path. As such, a very large and nasty pile-up occurred in the small, sterile hallway, as Maxey barreled headfirst into Win, who toppled over as Torey smashed into Maxey. The three boys sat groggily on the ground for a few minutes afterwards, and Win feigned that there were stars orbiting his skull as his vision settled. As he got up, Win held out a hand to the other boy his age on the floor (he had not yet realized that it was Maxey), and the two were just about to part ways when they both froze in mid step and stared at each other. The only way to describe the look on their faces was to say that each one looked like they had seen a ghost.

"W…W…Win?" asked Maxey, shocked.

"M…M…Maxey?" copied Win, a similar expression on his face.

The two looked shocked for a few seconds, and then, spontaneously, the two boys rushed toward each other and hugged each other.

Then, realizing what they were doing, both backed off at exactly the same time.

"Wow…" said Win, "that looked really…"

"Wrong…" completed Maxey. "And there were witnesses, too," said Maxey, gesturing towards Win's parents. Struck with the awkwardness of the situation, both boys chuckled nervously, and at length, Win decided to introduce Maxey to his father.

"Uh, Maxey, I don't think you know my dad…" Win began.

"I've met him," Maxey admitted. "I just never realized that he was your dad. I guess I should have, though… Network Safari, Windows Safari…same last name," said Maxey, looking ashamed.

"Yeah, I'll have to agree with you there," said Win in an over-the-top sarcastic tone which caused both Maxey and Netto to laugh.

"Well," said Netto at this juncture, "We'll leave you two friends. I'm sure your mother and I have a lot of catching up to do, so if you need us, we're in _this_ room.

As Netto said "_this _room," a small map with his father's room highlighted appeared in Win's HUD. When he had received the map, Win's father took his mother in hand and the two walked down the corridor, finally disappearing into one of the many rooms that lined the hallway.

"Something tells me that I'd better knock before I enter that room, or else I might *ahem* _walk in_ on them," said Win once his parents had disappeared.

"Oh, now that's a nice thing to say in front of Torey," Maxey said, grabbing the little kid's arm. Win gave Maxey his usual clueless "Huh? What?" expression as the little kid wrenched free of his cousin's arm.

"By the way," Win began anew, "Why was Torey chasing you, Maxey?"

"Oh, that…" Maxey turned down to look at his little cousin, who shot him a glare which could've burnt all of Maxey's ruffles to a crisp. "I told him that I was better at NetBattling than him."

"Well," said Win, moving over to join Torey, "I'm with Torey. He at least knows how to assemble a Battle Drive folder!" said Win, obviously referring to Win and Maxey's last NetBattle where Maxey used nothing but defense and recovery Battle Drives.

"Et tu, brute?" asked Maxey, somewhat hurt.

"In plain English, please, Maxey," said Win.

"And you, Brutus?" said Maxey.

"I still don't get it," said Win.

"Honestly, Win, don't you read at all?" asked Maxey, incredulous.

"Not really," Win admitted.

Maxey heaved an exasperated sigh. "It means "You've turned against me, too?" You see, Brutus was Julius Caesar's best friend, but he ended up stabbing Caesar to death along with a group of conspirators, and Caesar's dying words are fabled to be "Et tu, brute? Then fall Caesar."

Win yawned. "That's great, Maxey," he said, obviously disinterested. "But I get the reference now… sort of," he said, trying to muster an understanding grin, which came out as more of a grimace.

"Anyway," said Maxey, "I didn't expect you to be here, at the World Server Facility."

"Nor I," said Win. "But I did meet your cousin on the UnderWater Express."

"Oh, yeah," said Maxey, remembering Torey. "What do you think of Torey?"

This question was a bit too open-ended for Win's taste, but he answered anyway. "I think he's great. He really reminds me of a smaller, younger you, Maxey."

"Yeah, people say that all the time," said Maxey. "It's a wonder we're not brothers," he continued.

"Well, he was almost killed on that train," Win continued.

"?!" Maxey exclaimed, seemingly begging for an explanation.

In a few short paragraphs, Win explained the events that happened on the UnderWater Express; the NetDoom attack, the blue Navigator, how he took Torey's Navigator hostage, and so forth.

"Oh, my…" Maxey said with perfect decorum after Win had finished. "This really is serious. That train was supposed to be top secret, and yet the NetDoom Cult found out about it…"

"Yeah, so my dad says," said Win. "It's a good thing that the train didn't go directly to the Facility, or else the NetDoom Cult would've found out the location of this facility."

"That's true…" said Maxey, his face assuming a pensive expression. "Thank goodness for that sub," he concluded.

"Yeah…" Win said, stopping short. "Hold on… I never saw you on that sub."

"Oh, yes," Maxey said with a wave of his hand. "We took _The Future_"

"It's a sub as well as a plane?" asked Win, amazed.

"Yes, of course. What do you take the Rechefskis for, Win? A bunch of fools?"

"Yes…" Win said under his breath.

"What WAS THAT?!" yelled Maxey, his inflection rising with every word.

"Oh, nothing, really!" said Win quickly.

"Good," said Maxey, heaving a heavy sigh.

"But wait… _The Future_ is solid gold." Win said.

"What of it?" Maxey asked.

"Wouldn't that make it much easier to track? I mean, how many solid gold aircrafts are out there?"

"Don't worry about that," said Maxey. "We installed a radar-and-vision cloaker, so nobody can see or track it."

"How do you stop people from seeing something?" Win asked dubiously.

"It broadcasts a signal which interferes with a person's Pulse Band. Or, more specifically, that part of the Pulse Band that alters your vision. Ergo, they can't see it."

"My God…" Win muttered. "Is there anything that that plane _doesn't_ have?"

"Yes…" Maxey said, pausing to think.

"Do tell," said Win. "I'll venture a guess and say that it doesn't have a five-star French kitchen in the hold."

"No, it has that," said Maxey, completely oblivious to Win's sarcasm. "The only thing it doesn't have is a bathroom."

"No bathroom?!" said Win, slightly astounded. "Isn't that pretty basic?"

"Yeah, but since that plane can circle the world in less than five minutes, the theory was that it wouldn't need one." Maxey clarified.

"And I thought that that plane had everything…" said Win, faking a disappointed face and looking down.

Maxey laughed slightly at this bit of sarcasm, and afterward, the two friends parted ways.

The rest of that day merits little explanation, and I needn't expound on the details except to say that Win and Maxey both found no sleep that night because of anticipation for the party. Eventually, however, the morrow came.

Win, however, who had been fitful in his sleep, had fallen deep into an REM cycle by morning time, and as the window in his father's room provided no indication that daylight had broken due to the depth undersea of the Server Facility, Win stayed in bed until at least 12:00 noon.

Finally, when midday came, Win's mom took pity on the sleepy boy and shook him gently to wake him. This shaking bore absolutely no response, and his mom was forced to shake him harder. Still, the shaking brought no results, and Win's mom was on the verge of giving up when Netto walked into Win's room.

"What's the matter?" he asked of his wife. "Someone not very eager to get up this…afternoon?"

" 'Not very eager,' hah!" Win's mom mocked. "I had to install shock coils in his bed at home in order to wake him up for school, that's how bad it is."

Win's dad whistled softly. Then, his face showing that he had had an idea, Netto walked over to his son, leaned down, and whispered in his ear:

"I thought you wanted to be the first one at the party today…"

This did the trick. Win sat bolt upright in a flash, drooling from both sleep and excitement, and demanded his clothes from his mother.

"I thought so…" said Netto. "He was faking it, hoping we'd go away."

Win's mom's jaw dropped. "Is this true, Win?" she asked incredulously.

"Uhhh…Mayyybe?" said Win uncomfortably, drawing the covers closer to him out of nervous habit.

"So you've been faking it this whole time?! Even when I try to get you up for school back in Server City?!" his mom continued, a look of incredulous shock on her face.

"Uhhh…Mayyybe??" Win said again, sinking back into his bed.

"I can't believe it!" said his mom, who stormed away in a huff.

"Ohhhh…crap... I'm gonna' be in the doghouse with Mom for the next month because of this," Win said softly.

"I doubt it." This comment came from Netto, who had been standing in the shadows, watching the drama unfold.

"Why?" asked Win of his father.

"She's a very considerate, forgiving woman at heart," explained Netto. "Trust me, she won't dwell on it for long."

"I hope you're right," said Win, his eyes still downcast.

Seeing as his son needed cheering-up, Netto changed the subject to something which he knew would motivate his young offspring.

"So…the party begins at five, but I can take you down to the Grand Hall early if you get dressed quickly," he said.

This had the desired effect. Win's eyes once again widened with excitement. In a flash, Win had forsaken his bed, rushed over to his suitcase, dug out his clothes, and disappeared into a cleansing capsule before Netto could count to three.

Win's father whistled softly. "That's a boy after my own heart," he said quietly to himself as he left Win's room in order to give his son time to change clothes.

Win emerged a minute later, sparkling clean and raring to go.

"Oh, no Win!" his mother exclaimed as she saw him come out of his room in his regular clothes. "You need to wear your tuxedo today!"

"Aww…that's such a pain to get into…" Win said, pleading with his mom.

"No," his mother said in a firm voice. "This is your father's workplace's first ever reunion party, and I am not going to allow Netto Safari's son to look like a complete ragamuffin!"

"You say 'Netto Safari' in such an important way…" Win observed. "You'd think he was the director or something, the way you talk about him."

For the first time ever in Win's life, his mother shifted uncomfortably and faltered for words. Win feigned that he must have guessed right to evince such a reaction, but these thoughts were driven from his head when he heard his mom's next sentence:

"All this stalling isn't going to make me forget about the tux!"

Now it was Win's turn to shift uncomfortably.

"Now, go change!"

Win obliged, if somewhat grudgingly, and disappeared into his room, only to appear a minute later in the same shiny black tuxedo that he had worn to _Ché Merd_. The cleaning capsule had also slicked back Win's hair, lending him a much more respectable air than normal.

"Better?" Win asked of his mother in exasperated tones.

"Much," said his mom, planting a kiss on his forehead. "Now, go join your father and go to the party room. I'll join you when I'm dressed," she told Win, gesturing to Netto, who was dressed in a shiny black tuxedo which was almost identical to the one that Win wore.

"Ready, Win?" asked his father when Win had joined him by his side.

"I've been ready for a while," said Win, the excitement causing his voice to crack.

After smiling at his son's excited speech, Netto placed his hand on a hand scanner, which flashed green for a second after performing the scan. After the scan verified that Netto's hand was genuine, the doors to Netto's quarters gave a pneumatic hiss as they slid open.

"All right, follow me," said Netto as he surprised Win by performing an unexpected action. As his father started moving, Win noticed that he was floating along in HoverShoes.

"I didn't know that you wore HoverShoes…" said Win, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Hm?" said Netto dismissively. "Oh, yes I…" he trailed off.

"I?" pressed Win.

"Nothing, just forget about it," said Netto quickly.

"I 'invented them?'" Win tentatively concluded.

Netto whistled and shook his head. "Like I said, Win, you really are determined to unearth all this facility's secrets."

"That's not an answer," said Win, beginning to take annoyance at his father's secretive nature and diversionary tactics.

"Oh, well, it's my fault I guess for producing such an intelligent son…" said Netto, resigned. "I can't get away with mincing words or diverting you, can I?"

"Stop stalling!" said Win, now more than slightly annoyed.

"Ok, ok. You're absolutely right, I invented the Hover Booster, and the HoverShoe."

"But…" Win said, scratching his head, "That doesn't make sense."

"Why not?" asked Netto.

"Well… Hologo-Co's got the patent for it, don't they?"

"Did you already forget about our relationship with Hologo-Co, Win? I couldn't leave and start manufacturing them, so we sold the idea to the Rechefskis and let them manufacture the Hover Boosters."

"Ok, now that makes sense," said Win. Something else bothered Win about that last sentence, however. In fact, it appeared in all his father's speech. Netto never referred to transactions within the facility as "the Facility did this, or the Facility did that." Instead, he always talked in the possessive ("We did this, or We did that"), as if the World Server Facility was his own pet agency. When Win asked his father about this peculiarity of speech, however, Netto cut him off.

"No more questions, please, Win," he said abruptly. "I know you haven't seen me in years, and you're understandably curious, but I'm feeling pretty bombarded right now."

"Oh…" said Win, looking downcast. "Sorry… I didn't realize it."

"It's all right, Win…" said Netto, patting his son reassuringly on the shoulder. "Just… wait until you see the party room… you'll forget it all when you get there."

Satisfied with this request, Win nodded and boarded an elevator platform at the end of the employee quarters hallway, which Netto interfaced with and sent rocketing downward.

When the elevator platform stopped, Win saw that he was in the Server-Mezzanine level where the control panel to the servers was. However, instead of being sterile white like it had been yesterday, the mezzanine had been decked out with all sorts of decorations. Impossibly large balloons floated steadily just above head-level, leading Win to believe that they must be holograms. The brushed-metal floor sparkled with projected rainbow colors, and a similar cycling spectrum was projected over the walls. Spread out around the floor were large, round tables topped with snowy white tablecloths, which had _Ché Merd_-esque bouquets for centerpieces. A large buffet table was spread out in front of the server control panel (apparently to restrict access to said control panel), upon which was set truly delectable looking-food and even better-looking desserts.

Also, spread out around the floor for the benefit of the many children were several machines which Win had only read about in history textbooks. These machines were cube-shaped, and looked like miniature versions of the server room's CPU, down to the glowing green circuitry and everything. However, the cubes differed from the CPU because of the two _actual monitors_ set into them at diagonal angles, one on either side.

"My God…" Win said running a respectful hand across its shiny surface. "This…this is…a _Battle Machine_!"

"That's right," said Netto "One of the few surviving relics of a past age," he said in a tone that made him seem a full 40 years older.

"Wow… I've only read about these things…" said Win, mesmerized by the antique in front of him. "You can't even pulse into these things, right?"

"That's right," said Netto. "I know you're not going to believe me, but machines like these were the things I used when I was battling my friends in 8th grade."

"Wow," said Win, his devious mind turning sarcastic. "I never knew you were such a geezer, dad."

Netto laughed heartily at this, but when he had calmed down Win begged for more details about Net Society before his time.

"Well, first of all, it wasn't virtual reality like it is now. We didn't 'Pulse In' to the net like we do today. It wasn't a completely immersive virtual reality like it is today."

"How did you access the net, then?" asked Win, fascinated by his father's history lesson.

"We carried around little PDA's called Personal Terminals, or PET's, which stored our Navigators and did just about the same things as Pulse Bands do today; e-mail, SMS, videophone. Mind you, though, the Navigators weren't the same as ours are today either. Since a person couldn't transmit themselves directly to the net, Navigators actually had AI personalities that the user could directly modify. It was like creating a brother or sister who would manage your net-life."

"Wow… neat."

"Yeah…" said Netto, assuming the voice tone that made him seem 40 years older again. "I kind of wish that that feature was still around… it was pretty cool."

"Anyway, what did these PET's look like?" asked Win.

"Oh! I actually have mine right here," said Netto.

"Oh, wow…" said Win, his sarcasm meter rising, "you must've really liked the old days better if you still carry it around with you…"

"No, it's nothing like that…" said Netto. "It's actually functional around here."

"Do explain," Win pressed.

"Well, this facility was built back in the PET age, so some of the more critical systems can only be accessed by Jack-In Port," said Netto in explanation.

"Jack-In Port?" asked Win.

"Yes, that's what it was called back then; when you sent your Navigator, well… we actually called them "Navi's," back then, but that nickname is obsolete now. Anyway, when you sent your Navi to the net, you had to pull out an actual cable from your PET and connect it to an actual, physical port. That was called "Jacking-In." said Netto as he rummaged to find his PET.

"They made retrofitted adapters for Pulse Bands, of course, but… well… call me an old timer, but I'm just much more used to using my PET when it comes to real delicate work on the servers and such. Ah! Here it is!" Netto said as he triumphantly extracted a large, blue PDA.

Netto held it out for Win to take, and Win respectfully picked up the relic PET. The PET was large and blue, shaped in almost a perfect oval, and had a small handle with which to hold it on the left-hand side. The relic had an actual 3 inch LCD screen with two buttons labeled "A" and "B" underneath. Another large red button with the power symbol rested in the upper-right hand corner of the screen. On the underside of the PET were two notable features: One was a long cable, which Win assumed was the Jack-In cable, and the other one was a large slot with no clear purpose.

Pointing to it, Win inquired of his father what the slot was used for.

"Oh, that's where you put in Battle Chips."

"Battle _Chips_?" asked Win.

Netto fished around in his pocket and produced a folder resemblant of a Battle Drive folder, albeit much larger in size than any Battle Drive folder would ever be. To answer his son's question, Netto pulled out a very large chip, similar to a 21st century SD card (albeit two or three times the size) with a picture of a watery sword on it and handed it to Win.

"Battle Chips preceded Battle Drives. That's a battle chip for an AquaSword."

"Wow…" said Win, turning it over in his palm. "It looks a lot like my WaterSword Battle Drive."

"It's the equivalent," said Netto. You'd load that to your Navigator, and then tell him to use it on another Navi or virus."

"Tell him? You didn't have direct control over your 'Navi's?'" Win asked, trying to wrap his head around the concept.

"No, control wasn't as direct. One relied a lot more on the Navi's AI back then. You could tell a Navi where to go or what to do, but basically you just sat back and watched. Even when battling, you only told the Navi what strategy to follow; you didn't control it directly."

"Wow…" said Win, amazed at the technology gap between his own childhood and his father's childhood. "Sounds pretty boring, if all you got to do was sit back and watch…" Win said.

"It was a lot more fun than it sounds… you really have to operate a Navi before you understand how it works." Win's dad paused, rubbing his chin in a thoughtful way.

"In fact…" Netto said, his beginning to sparkle with excitement. "I want you to do your father a favor, Win."

Win could tell that his father was excited about whatever he was about to ask, so he responded:

"Name it, dad!"

"I want you to battle your rival, 'Maxey' with my PET and my Navi. I want to see if my own son can battle as well as I used to on a PET."

"Okaay…" Win said, not averse to the idea, but still a bit confused as to how one would go about doing that.

"Great!" yelled Netto excitedly. "Take this folder of Battle Chips, then, and keep the PET."

Win obligingly took the cumbersome folder, and Netto pressed the red power button. It took a few seconds for the LCD screen to flicker to life, but when the PET was up and running, Win noticed what must have been the 'Navi' program Netto had been talking about in a small window in the upper-right hand corner. With the smooth, confidant air of a real pro, Netto grabbed the PET by the handhold and tapped the window, causing the Navigator's face to fill the screen. The Navi program looked a lot like a modern-day Navigator, except it was much smaller and less realistic-looking than Win's Navigator. The program wore a tight-fitting blue jumpsuit and large blue helmet to match, which left only the face of the Navigator and a few shocks of jet black hairs exposed. The defining features of the Navigator's face were the two large, green eyes, which seemed to see right through a person's thoughts and emotions. One other defining feature of the Navigator was the large red disk on the chest of his jumpsuit; a disk which looked like a stylized "do not enter" sign with the diagonal line though the circle and everything.

The Navi, who had been asleep in his window, yawned and addressed Win's father in the following casual fashion:

"*Yawn!* It's been a long time since you used me, Lan."

"SHHHHH!" said Win's father abruptly. "I told you not to call me by that name!"

"Oh, right, I forgot," said the Navi, starting.

Ignoring the inquisitive glare he was receiving from his son, Netto continued talking to the program.

"I want you to meet my son," he said, still addressing the program. Then, turning to face Win, Netto made the introduction. "Win Safari, meet your dad's old navi."

"Pleasure," said the Navi. "I'd shake your hand if I was real, but I'm just a program."

Very surprised by the extremely high level of AI in the Navi program, Win pulled his father aside and whispered a question.

"So, you just talk to it and it understands you?" he asked, amazed.

"Yes, that's how it works," said his father back, still in a whisper. Then, turning to address the Navi once more, Netto said:

"Now, I want you to battle someone under Win's command. You think you're up to it?"

"Yeah, no problem," said the Navi. "I'm a program, so I never get rusty at it. Bring on the challenge!"

"Not quite yet," Netto told it. "I'm going to give the PET to Win, so be nice to him. He'll jack you into the net when it's time."

"Roger," said the Navi.

After this somewhat surreal conversation with a program, Win took custody of the PET and Battle Chip folder. Win couldn't shake the feeling that he'd played a video game that involved AI programs and PET's like this before, but he dismissed it as nonsense as he stuffed the cumbersome PDA and folder into his pocket.

When Win looked once again to his father, he found his focus trained on his own left eye. Assuming that his father's HUD had just flared up, Win waited respectfully while Netto stood mesmerized by his own eyes.

"Well well well," said Netto, shifting his visual focus back to his son. "The party's going to start in about twenty minutes. I'd better see to the last minute preparations, so amuse yourself for a few minutes until everyone gets here."

"Will do," said Win, and the father and son parted paths.

With twenty minutes to kill, Win did what any normal child would do: he pulled out his new toy (the PET) and began to play with it.

Tapping the small window with the Navi's face just as his father had done, Win made the program appear full screen.

"Hello Win," said the Navi. "Can I help you?"

"Hello…ummm… do you have a name?" Win asked of the program.

"Yes, but it's a long one. Just call me "Navi"" said the Navi.

"Ok, then, Navi… How do I use you, exactly?"

"It's not that hard… I might even tell you if you stop looking at me like I was some sort of space alien," said the Navi sarcastically.

"Oh, sorry…" Win said, changing the expression on his face. "It's just that…"

"…I'm obsolete technology, and you've never seen anything like it before, right?" completed the Navi.

"Yeah…" said Win, impressed yet again by the advanced AI in the program. "How did you know?"

"Netto told me about you and your modern "Pulse Bands," so it makes logical sense that you'd be confused," said the Navi, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"By the way…" said Win, remembering something the Navi had said earlier. "Earlier you called my dad a different name… I think it was 'Lan.'

The Navi started on the screen. "Yeah, sorry, not allowed to talk about that," it said quickly. "Top secret government stuff, you know the type…"

"Yeah, I do…" said Win with noticeable bitterness in his voice.

The first guests were beginning to enter the mezzanine level at this point, and Maxey was among the first.

"Ok, gotta go. See ya, Navi!" said Win as he stuffed the obsolete PET back into his pocket.

Maxey had spotted Win by this time, and had made a beeline for him.

"Hey Maxey," said Win casually.

"Hello Win," said Maxey with the perfect decorum characteristic of the Rechefskis. "What was that thing that you stuffed into your pocket upon my arrival?"

"What, this?" Win said, extracting the PET.

"WHOA!!!" Maxey said, dropping his jaw. "Win… Where did you get a PET?!" he inquired, completely amazed.

"My dad just gave it to me less than five minutes ago," said Win, amazed at Maxey's reaction to such an old piece of technology.

"You'd better take _REALLY_ good care of that thing, Win."

"Why," asked Win, giving Maxey his clueless face.

"Those are worth a _LOT_ of money. Most of them got recycled into Pulse Bands, so they're really rare. I wonder where your dad got one…?" Maxey asked, trailing off into silence.

"He told me that he kept it from his childhood, along with all his Battle Chips."

"WHOA!!!" Maxey yelled again.

"What now?" asked Win, a tad annoyed.

"Win you'd better take _REALLY, REALLY _good care of that thing! An original PET with original battle chips… you basically can't find those nowadays! They're almost nonexistent!"

"Wow…" said Win, slightly awestruck. "I had no idea." Then, remembering his father's request, Win addressed Maxey again.

"Oh, right, Maxey… I challenge you to a NetBattle."

"What, with the PET?" asked Maxey.

"That's right," said Win.

"I'd be honored!" responded Maxey quickly. "I've heard that Navis battle even better than humans, if handled right."

"Oh, well, tough luck for you, then…" said Win. "All I'm hearing is that you're going down harder this time."

"A likely story…" said Maxey, scornfully. "I just finished composing my folder with a world-class battling specialist, so bring on the challenge!"

The two opponents made their way over to the Battle Machine, and as Maxey hooked in the Jack-In retrofit cable to his Pulse Band, Win pulled out the PET and began talking to the Navi.

"You ready for battle?" he asked it.

"Yeah!" it responded. "Let's do this!"

"Ok, then. Jack-In, Transmit!" yelled Win as he shoved the cumbersome cable into the correct port on the Battle Machine. As the LCD screen on the machine flickered to life, so too did a primitive holographic projector, which projected a 2-D image of the Navi and Navigator facing each other in the cyber-arena provided by the Battle Machine.

"Load a battle chip!" whispered the Navigator. "Preferably something water-based, since our opponent's armour has blue undertones."

"Right," said Win, extracting the AquaSword chip from his father's folder and shoving it into the correct slot.

A picture of the chip appeared on the screen of the PET.

"Now, press the "Download" button," said the Navigator. "Quickly! The battle is about to start!"

"Right!" said Win, pressing the download button with his finger. "Alright, Navi! Let's do this!"

"Battle Routine Set!" yelled the Navi.

"Execute!" said Win without even thinking. The process of battling with Navis seemed completely natural to Win; it felt as if he'd been doing it all his life.

The 2-D hologram pulsed 3-2-1, but before it could say "Fight," an eerie cackle filled the room, and the 2-D hologram flickered for a second before changing to the image of a glowing Navigator with black armour and purple undertones.

"I'm sorry," said this new scary Navigator, drawing the attention of everyone in the crowded mezzanine level. "But this battle has been interrupted for a much better one, provided by your NetDoom Cult. This new battle is called: The Battle For Your Lives!" As he cackled again, several people began to scream as the officials threw aside the buffet tables and accessed the server control panels.

"In just a very few seconds, this station will lose power, and as such, the ventilation systems will fail. With that many of you in the room, I wouldn't expect that you'll have more than half-an-hour to live without fresh oxygen, which there seems to be an abundant lack of in this underwater paradise." The Navigator cackled again, sending chills down Win's spine.

"While you are all dying in the mezzanine level, I will be disabling the World Server Facility, which will signal the end of Net Society as we know it. So, enjoy your last moments in the World Server Facility, and have a nice party.

Immediately after the message ended, the lights and ventilation went out, just as the Navigator had predicted. Backup generators kept the servers and control panel online, but all other electronic devices in the room failed.

Win jacked the Navi out of the Battle Machine and hurried over to the control panel, where he found his father typing furiously at one of the terminals.

"Well, they've done it," said Netto hysterically. The NetDoom Cult has infiltrated the world's most secret network and an unknown Navigator is speeding toward the main CPU control panel." He buried his head in his hands.

"Well, don't just stand there, do something about it!" said Win. "Pulse in and stop them."

"You can't pulse in here, the technology's too old," said Netto. "The only way to access the server is to jack in."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Win said, moving his dad aside and sitting down at the control panel.

"MAXEY!" Win screamed.

"Yeah?" the rich boy answered.

"Find a control panel and jack in!" yelled Win as he drew a length of cord from his father's PET.

"Well," Win mused to himself as he shoved the Jack-In plug into its port underneath the monitor. "Things couldn't get much worse. I've got thirty minutes to stop an incredibly powerful Navigator and save the World Server Facility from certain doom, while battling with obsolete technology that I hardly know how to use.

"Jack-In, Transmit!" Win screamed as the Jack-In cable slid into its port with a click.


	7. Chapter 7: An Obselete Battle

Chapter 7: An Obsolete Battle

The screen of Win's PET showed a progress bar as the Navi within was transmitted to the world's most secure cyberworld.

"You in yet?" Win asked his Navi frantically.

"Not quite… There's some really heavy-duty security blocking my way… I could really use a strong Battle Chip right now."

"Oh, yeah, of course!" said Win, snapping his fingers and flicking through his dad's folder of battle chips.

"Wow…" Win said, his eyes growing in diameter with each page he accessed. "Dad has some really, _really_ rare Battle Chips in here…" he said with awe in his voice.

Eventually, Win selected the chip form of his favorite Battle Drive.

"Galactic Bomb, IN!" he said without even thinking as he shoved the Battle Chip in its slot.

"NO!" screamed someone in the distance before Win could hit the download button.

"What?" asked Win, turning his attention from the PET to whoever had screamed. "Who was that?" he asked.

"ME! YOUR FATHER!" screamed Netto, his voice bordering on hysteria.

"Oh…" said Win, turning to face his dad. "Why not?"

"Because a Galactic Bomb would be enough of a shock to the delicate technology in the servers to destroy some very critical programs!" said Netto, still hysterical but obviously trying to calm himself.

"Did you hear that, Navi?" said Win to his PET, ejecting the Battle Chip as he talked.

"Yeah, I heard. Try sending me the chip marked "Buster Gun," I think that's all I really need.

"Ok…" said Win, flipping through the pages of his father's Battle Chip folder once again. After a few seconds of ardent searching, Win found a battle chip with no picture; just the words "Buster Gun" scrawled on the surface in sharpie. Extracting the chip, Win yelled "Buster Gun, IN! Download!" as he shoved the chip in and hit download on the touch screen of the PET.

"Wait…" Win thought to himself. "Why am I yelling all these random phrases while inserting Battle Chips?" he asked himself. "It's almost like I've heard them before…"

"I'm in," said the Navigator. "That Buster Gun did the trick."

"Great…" said Win, twirling his bow tie nervously. "Now what?" he asked the Navi.

Stopping himself from rolling his eyes, the blue Navi told Win to hold on as he brought up two separate screens. One screen; the screen on the PET showed a video-game style view of his Navigator's backside as he paced the cyberworld floor. The other screen; the screen on the control panel terminal where Win had jacked into, began displaying a map of the server cyberworld with a small red blip indicating the Navi's current position.

"Look at that map, and tell me where to go!" yelled the Navi. "and have your Battle Chips ready for any viruses I run into."

"Got it!" said Win, examining the map. The map was anything but easy to read, but Win did eventually discern a path which led to the control panel.

"Okay," Win said, tensing his body for action as he turned to address the Navigator. "You should be in a wide-open rectangular space."

"Yeah, that sounds right," said the Navigator, and Win confirmed it for himself by looking at the screen of the PET, which showed a primitive-looking cyberworld with a yellow-and-black striped floor and no wallpaper.

"Ok, head to the north corner of the rectangle and start following that path." Win said, consulting the map once more.

The Navi began moving on the PET screen, but he stopped abruptly when he ran out of floor space.

"What path?" he asked. "I can't see any path."

"Weird…" said Win, glancing at the map once more. "It says clearly that there's a path right directly in front of you."

"Ok, I'll just step out into the blackness and see," said the Navi. Win watched on his screen as the blue program took a step into the blackness. Surprisingly, however, the Navi didn't fall, and the ground beneath him seemed to form an invisible path.

Looking over his son's shoulder, Netto commented on this peculiarity.

"Right…" he said, remembering something. "We designed most of the paths in the server cyberworld to turn invisible in the case of a power outage. We thought it would fool our enemies."

"Did you hear that, Navi?" Win asked for the second time.

"Yeah…" said the Navi, apprehensively. "Well… let's see if we can figure this invisible maze out and stop that NetDoom Navigator."

"Right!" said Win, looking at the map again. "Go straight for about five steps, then turn 90 degrees to your left."

"Okay…" said the Navi, treading carefully on the invisible paths. "Oh…great," the Navi said ominously as he made the 90o pivot. "Viruses ahead, Win. Send me some chips," he instructed.

Win looked at the PET screen and saw the viruses that the Navi was talking about; floating yellow balls with angry faces and two floating cone-shaped electric rods for arms. Win pulled open the folder again and flipped through it, looking for a strong chip.

"Is a 'Cannon Lv.3' powerful enough?" Win asked his Navi as he extracted a chip with the picture of a very large, red gun on it.

"Yeah, just send it!" said the Navi, somewhat frantically.

"Canon Lv.3 Battle Chip IN! Download!" Win yelled as he transmitted the chip. Then, realizing what he had just said, Win smacked himself on his head and asked himself why he was saying such weird things every time he inserted a chip.

Win watched as his Navi's arm split apart into zeroes and ones and re-arranged into the shape of the cannon depicted on the chip. Approaching the first virus, the Navi blasted it squarely in the face, and Win watched as three small numbers appeared above the virus's head and counted down to zero. When the three digits reached zero, the virus shattered into zeroes and ones.

"What the heck was with those numbers?" Win asked his Navi as he approached the next virus.

"Those numbers were the virus's hit points. When damaged, viruses like these didn't become fragmented like yours do these days. They just lost hit points. Same with Navigators," he said, pointing to his own hit points in the top-right hand corner of the PET's screen.

"Okay, now I'm definitely playing a video game…" said Win, almost unable to believe his eyes.

"No, you're not!" said the Navi. "This is very real, or did you forget that we're trying to save the world from being shut down?" he said, his large green eyes burning a hole in Win's soul.

"Sorry…" said Win, his mind rocketing back down to earth.

"Ok, where do I go now?" asked the Navi, who had now dealt with the second virus.

"According to this map, it's a straight shot down to the control panel," said Win, consulting the terminal screen map once more.

"Great!" said the Navi, his cybernetic face showing visible relief. "Just download a sword-chip to me so that I can slash at these viruses on the run."

"With pleasure," Win said, withdrawing an AquaSword and downloading it to the Navi, minus the ridiculous catchphrase this time.

With its arm re-shaped into the form of a sword, the Navi charged down the invisible path, swiping at the viruses in his way with the AquaSword Win had just given him.

The Navi eventually reached the end of the path, and was approaching the control panel when not one, not two, but _three_ modern Navigators pulsed in directly in front of him.

"I knew it couldn't be that easy…" said both Win and his Navi at the same time.

"We need backup if we're going to take all three of them!" Win cried frantically. Fervent nods on the part of his Navi re-assured Win that he was right, but they did nothing to ameliorate the situation.

As Win was beginning to lose hope, however, he discerned a rapidly approaching modern Navigator with yellow armor blasting down the invisible path on HoverShoes. Realizing that it was Maxey to the rescue, Win's heart nearly skipped a beat with relief.

"How're you doing, Win?" Maxey's pompous Navigator asked Win's blue Navi.

"Actually, Maxey, that's my Navi," Win said through the PET. "And you made it just in time," Win concluded as the three Navigators finished materializing.

The small screen on the PET gave Win his first look at the three opponents that they were going to have to face. The largest and most imposing Navigator, who was obviously the leader of the three, was the black-and-purple Navigator that had made the announcement through the battle machine. The Navigator on his right side was a medium-sized blue Navigator with yellow undertones on his armour. Looking over at Maxey, Win saw that the pompous Navigator's armour was exactly the opposite color (meaning that attacks made by Maxey would be doubly effective against the blue-and-yellow Navigator), so it was clear to Win that Maxey would face the right-hand opponent.

The Navigator on the left posed a problem, however, as there was nobody to deal with it. This left-hand opponent wore chilly white armour with red undertones, signifying his strength with ice-type attacks and his weakness to fire. Although he was small in size, this icy Navigator concerned Win, as it might easily whittle his Navi's health down while he was focused on deleting the black Navigator, leaving the Navi weak and vulnerable.

"Darn!" said Win, slamming his fist down on the control panel. "If we just had one more fire-style Navigator, we'd have a fighting chance.

"Hey, guys!" said a bright, breathless voice behind Win.

Turning to face the new voice, Win saw the answer to his wish. Torey Rechefski was standing right behind him.

"Torey! Thank God, you're perfect!" Win shouted, escorting the little kid over to a terminal and hooking his pulse band into a Jack-In retrofitted cable.

"What's going on?" asked the poor seven-year old.

"Jack into where Maxey and I tell you, we need your help in a battle," explained Win quickly as he shoved the other end of the Jack-In cable into the correct port on the control panel.

Returning to his PET, Win saw Torey's small red Navigator materialize beside Maxey's Navigator.

"Okay, listen," Win said quickly, addressing both his allies. "Maxey, you get the blue-and-yellow Navigator."

Maxey's Navigator nodded its cybernetic head.

"Torey, you get the small white Navigator," Win continued, talking very rapidly, as he sensed movement from his enemies.

Torey's Navigator nodded as well, already priming his ZetaCannon.

"We'll take the big black one," said Win to both the crowd and his Navi.

Everyone nodded their cybernetic heads.

"Okay, then," said Win, taking a deep breath and tensing for battle. "LET'S DO THIS!"

"YEAH!" screamed all three Navigators, rushing off to face their respective enemies.

As Maxey and Torey blasted off towards their respective enemies, Win held back and asked his Navi what type of chip he should download.

"Try a ZetaCannon," said the Navi. "If that doesn't work… well, then we'll try something else."

Win obligingly loaded the ZetaCannon from his father's folder, not even bothering to restrain himself from saying the obnoxious catchphrase, and immediately gave the order to attack.

The Navi rushed at the black Navigator, who loaded a truly gigantic purple sword and took several swipes at the miniscule blue program. However, due to his slight size, the Navi was able to jump over and duck under the swipes with ease, and when he had gotten himself in range, he charged up his ZetaCannon and let out a high-powered blast.

As the blast made contact, four digits reading 5000 appeared over the Navigator's head. After the blast, the digits read 4999, indicating that the blast had only done 1 hit point of damage.

"Okaaay…" said Win, thinking out loud, "that's not going to work."

"Win, hurry it up with that next Battle Chip!" said the Navi, who was holding off the Navigator's purple sword with both hands.

"Uhh…give me a second," said Win, frantically flipping through the pages of his father's Battle Chip folder.

"This guy's got dark armour, so something light must be effective…" Win thought to himself as he scanned his father's chip collection. "Problem is, I've never seen a light-style attack," he thought as he turned another page.

On this page, however, three chips caught his eye. They all had pictures of unusual cannon-style weapons on them, but their name attracted Win more than anything else.

"GunDeSol 1, GunDeSol 2, GunDeSol3…" Win said as he read the names off.

"WIN! HURRY!" yelled the Navi hysterically, his bright green eyes wide with fear.

"Right!" said Win, palming all three chips and inserting them all in the PET, one after the other.

"GunDeSol 1 IN! GunDeSol 2 IN! GunDeSol 3 IN! Download!" yelled Win feverishly as he hammered the "Download" button on the PET.

As the data for the chips was transmitted to the Navi, a blinding flash of light illuminated the screen of the PET, the screen of the terminal, and Win feigned that he saw the CPU cube flash with light for a split second. When the light subsided, Win found himself looking at a very different Navi than before.

Although his physical form remained the same, the Navi's clothes had completely changed in appearance. The program's jumpsuit and helmet all glowed white, the Navi's boots and helmet had sprouted wings, and the Navi's distinctive green eyes had turned a pure golden color. On his arms, the Navi had two very large, shining white cannons mounted, and the large red do-not-enter crest on his chest had been replaced by a third, smaller cannon.

"What the heck?" said Win, his eyes turning gold as well from the reflection on screen. "Did you just turn into an angel, Navi?"

"I don't know, but I can feel the power flowing through my body!" said the Navi, apparently just as surprised as Win. "Whatever you did, it feels amazing!" it said with awe in its cybernetic voice.

"Great!" said Win, punching his fist in the air. "Now, let's finish this NetDoom Navigator!" he said, pointing on screen to the hulking Navigator, who had curled up in a ball behind the control panel to avoid the light."

"Roger!" said the Navi, flying on his winged boots over to the dark Navigator, who put his hands in front of his eyes to shield them. When he was within range, Win looked on with amazement as the Navi charged up all three of his cannons and blasted the dark Navigator with a triple-beam of what appeared to be pure light.

The beams ripped gaping holes in the dark Navigator, and as it let out a piercing scream, Win noticed with triumph in his eyes that the hit-point digits were counting quickly down from 4999 to 0. When that zero was reached, the Navigator shuddered and exploded into millions of zeroes and ones.

After both boy and Navi had heaved a sigh of relief, the Navi's clothes stopped glowing; the beautiful white light rising like steam off the jumpsuit and into the ceiling. As if the rising light was magic, Win saw that the lights in the real world were slowly coming back on line. Shortly afterwards, the ventilation system returned to life as well, and Win could hear everyone in the room take a heavy sigh of relief. More than this, however, the crowd began to applaud, just like crowds past had done in Win's school and at Hologo-Land.

Jacking-Out his Navi, Win turned to face the crowd, and as the cheers mounted, Maxey and Torey jacked out to join Win on either side.

"Quite a light show your Navi put on, Win," said Maxey with little emotion. "I wonder what that was?" he asked.

"I dunno, honestly," Win said back. "I just loaded three chips, one after the other, and it happened," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"It was a _Double Soul Program Advance_," said a voice behind them.

"A _what_?!" asked Win, whirling around to face the voice.

Maxey seemed to comprehend, as he nodded his head and said "Of course…"

"A _Double Soul Program Advance_," said Netto again.

"What's that?" inquired Win.

"It's a feature that was lost when the world switched over to Pulse Bands," his father explained. "Sometimes, under special, dire conditions, when a Navi and Operator's souls were truly aligned, if the operator downloaded a series of three chips, like the three GunDeSol's, the Navi would gain incredible elemental powers."

"Ah…" said Win, understanding it better now. "Why did it get lost?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, Navis were replaced by Navigators, which are controlled directly by their operator. So, the modern Navigator has no personality; no soul to connect with."

"Ergo, you can't do the Double Soul Program Advance, because there aren't 'double souls,' anymore," said Maxey, who apparently understood how the process worked.

"Right," said Netto. "It was the feature that made Navis great; even greater than today's more realistic Navigators," he said in a wistful voice.

"Wow…" said Win, his face frozen in awe.

"The fact that you were able to pull off the program advance on your first battle ever with a Navi you hardly knew…" Netto said, looking straight at his son with indescribable pride, "It's just amazing… It leaves me speechless."

The ambient applause had died down by this time, and the crowd seemed to be expecting Netto to give a speech. Turning to face the employees and their families, Netto cleared his throat and looked skyward, searching for the right words.

"Well…" he began, apparently no better at making speeches than his son, "I believe every one of you in this room has witnessed an absolutely extraordinary event. When all of our lives were threatened, when we were all about to die of suffocation, when the world was in mortal danger of being shut down, possibly for good, three outstanding heroes stepped up to save us. And they weren't the heroes any of us expected. Yet, under _extremely_ adverse conditions, these three boys…" Netto paused to point out Win, Maxey and Torey and introduce them.

"These three boys rose to the occasion and proved themselves stronger than one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world. And more than this, even, I have the honor of calling one of them my son. These three deserve more praise than we can ever offer, but I'd like to say this at least: Three cheers for WINDOWS SAFARI, MAXMILLION RECHEFSKI, and TOREY RECHEFSKI!!!!

As the crowd went "HIP-HIP-HUZZAH!," Netto held up the hands of Win and Maxey like the MC of a boxing match holds up the hand of a champion.

"Wait," Win said, dropping his hand and stooping to hoist Torey up between them. The three stood in this position until their arms were ready to fall off, and after the moment of glory was over, Netto leaned down to address Win personally.

"Win, I believe you deserve now to know something…something which I've avoided telling you this whole time," he said quietly.

"What is it?" Win asked, raising his eyebrows in curiosity.

"I just want to tell you that all your guesses about me were right from the start," he said cryptically.

"What does that mean?" asked Win, too happy at that precise moment to be annoyed with his father's cryptic speech.

"Just this: You guessed right," said Netto, pausing to take a deep breath before he continued. "I _am_ the director of the World Server Facility."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!"

Win's scream echoed around the facility as his father ducked and covered his ears.


	8. Chapter 8: NetDoom's Next Strike

Chapter 8: Shadow and Suspense: NetDoom's Next Strike

With the attack on the World Server Facility, the world went into a state of panic. The fact that the world's deepest secret had not only been revealed, but infiltrated as well, sent the world government into a frenzy. A full-blown state of emergency was declared, alert levels were raised to the highest level, the 41st century equivalent of martial law was declared (although, due to the absence of a military under the world government, martial law had many fewer implications). It was clear to the governmental intelligence agencies that the cult was preparing one last, final strike, but nobody knew what it was, where it was coming from, or when it would strike. Consequently, a 24 hour watch was kept on the net, and citizens were encouraged not to pulse into the information superhighway unless absolutely necessary.

Win Safari didn't know all of these details, as he was still isolated in the World Server Facility when the world went under martial law. However, he knew something big was happening from the moment he woke up on the day after the big attack on the Server Facility. Or, one could almost say that he knew something big was happening by _how_ he was woken up on the next day.

Still fast asleep at 7:00 in the morning on the day in question, Win was rather rudely woken by a loud voice in his room. Thinking it to be either his mother or father, Win threw his pillow in the direction of the voice and tried feverishly to go back to sleep. His pillow attack seemed to have no effect on the rude speaker, however, and thus Win was forced to sit up in bed and shoo the mystery voice himself.

Even with his vision and hearing blurred by sleep, however, Win could clearly see that neither of his parents were the source of the mystery voice. Instead, a holographic person was standing in the middle of the room, and Win feigned that he had seen the holographic man's serious face before. As his vision cleared, Win recognized the man as the prime-minister of the world government, and as the prime minister did not usually grace the general public with his image unless something terribly important was up, Win forced himself to strain his ears and hear the dignitary's message.

"…and as such," the prime minister's hologram was saying when Win began to listen, "We will be taking every precaution to ensure the safety of the staff of the World Server Facility. Will the Families of Rechefski and Safari please ready yourselves for evacuation of the facility at this time? Your transport will leave in exactly one hour from the conclusion of this message. We will be evacuating more staff as the day goes on. Please stay alert and evacuate within one hour from when your name is called. Thank you."

The message struck Win on many levels. First of all, the prime minister of the world was delivering an evacuation message. That in and of itself was impressive. Second, the World Server Facility was evacuating all of its important people; an event which, undoubtedly, would only happen under the most serious of circumstances.

Feeling somewhat overloaded, and more that a little tired, Win's devious mind began turning its gears slowly.

"One hour…hmmm," thought Win, looking skyward in contemplation. "That's one hour I can spend sleeping!" he said, flopping back down on the mattress.

"No it's not!" said another voice; the second one to wake Win that morning. The dulcet tones of this voice were unmistakably those of Win's mother, however, and Win pulled the covers over his head in protest.

Not in the mood to take any crap from her son this morning, Win's mother walked gracefully over to the bed, and with one sweeping motion, she removed all the covers from said bed.

Left without any source of warmth or shelter, Win batted his hand furiously at his mother in one last-ditch effort to shoo her away. His mother was too determined to be deterred by this, however, as she grabbed his flailing hand and pulled him forcibly out of bed.

"Now…" she said, breathing hard, "I'm going to leave this room for five minutes so that you can dress."

"Good…" said Win, rubbing his right eye out of sleepiness.

"And…" his mom continued, her voice turning slightly sinister, "If you go back to sleep during that time, I'll take that Pulse Band of yours away for a month."

"Yeah right…" Win muttered.

"Excuse me?" his mom snapped back pointedly.

"My Pulse Band is a necessary implement for school, and you can't realistically take it away," Win said with an arrogant affect.

"Tisk, tisk," said his mom, wagging her finger. "You forget that school isn't in session."

"Oh, damn…" Win said, looking downward. "I forgot…that excuse won't work now…"

"Correct," snapped his mother in response.

"But wait…" Win said, his devious mind churning full speed. "What if the NetDoom Cult attacks, and you've taken away my Pulse Band?" he asked, his voice regaining the arrogant affect.

"Then the NetDoom Cult will just have to win," said his mom sarcastically.

"Great…" said Win, starting to rummage in his suitcase for clean clothes.

Her mission accomplished, Win's mom made a triumphant exit, leaving Win to change and use the cleaning capsule.

A minute later, Win emerged from his room, completely clean in body and clothes. Still stumbling from sleep, Win plopped down at the sterile, white table in his father's sterile, white room. In the crude speech which was characteristic of his early mornings, Win demanded breakfast of his mother, who had entered the room a few seconds after him.

"No time," she said back.

"Whaddya mean, 'no time?' I'm hungry!" Win said back, his speech slurred by sleepiness.

"Look, Win," his mother said, trying to explain the situation to the comatosechild before her. "I know that you're tired, I know that you're hungry, but _please_ try to cooperate with us. We've got to evacuate this facility in less than 20 minutes, and I still have to deal with that shambles that we call your room."

Win laid his head on the table, completely overloaded.

"Come on, Win" she said, planting a kiss on her sleepy son's forehead. "Why don't you put yourself to good use while I'm getting ready?"

"Because I'm tired," Win grumbled.

"Look, why don't you take the bags that are already packed and find our transport?" Win's mom said, tenaciously trying to keep her son from falling asleep at the table.

"Because I'm tired," Win responded again.

"It would be a big help," she coerced.

"So?" Win said, his head still buried in the table.

"Okay…" his mom said, her voice changing to a darker tone. "No more "Mrs. Nice Parent!""

In another graceful, sweeping motion, Win's mom swooped over to her lifeless, limp rag of a son and quite literally picked him up and dumped him down by the door.

"Take the bags," she said forcefully, "Or your Pulse Band is forfeit"

"I guess that's one kind of motivation," retorted Win, standing up and grabbing a HoverBag in each hand. Putting his left hand to the scanner on the door, Win exited into the hallway.

Without any idea as to where to go, Win commanded his Pulse Band to pull up a map of the facility. Upon receiving the command, however, the HUD in Win's left eye flared to tell him that maps of the facility were restricted. Heaving a heavy, exasperated sigh which quickly turned into a yawn, Win chose a direction and began to walk down the hallway.

He hadn't taken more than five steps, however, when his HUD flared again, this time to tell him that he had a new e-mail. Sending the command to open inbox, Win navigated to the new e-mail, opened it and read it. Surprisingly, however, the e-mail contained no text; the only content was a mysterious attachment. Opening said attachment, Win found a detailed map of the World Server Facility with the docking port for the family's transport highlighted.

"Hmm…" thought Win to himself. "It's almost like someone anticipated me…" he said, trailing off. However, seeing as he now had a map, Win turned around and began to follow the path specified by the map, which would supposedly lead him straight to the docking bay of the family's transport. The path was fairly straightforward, and Win had soon boarded an elevator platform to the docking bay. Upon alighting, Win turned right and followed his map to the same docking gate that the transport sub had used when bringing the families of the employees to the facility. Allowing another hand scanner to verify his identity, Win passed through a set of double doors, walked down a short hallway, and passed through another set of doors into the family's transport.

Although still a submarine, the transport bore absolutely no resemblance to the tourist sub that Win had ridden over from the UnderWater Express. This sub was crescent-shaped, with no windshield and only a few passenger's seats in the middle of the arc. The ceiling was extremely low, and even the short Win had to duck in order to move around as he set his family's bags down in the small, designated luggage rack. As he was turning to leave, a person who Win assumed to be the captain called out to the boy and bade him come to him.

When Win had stopped and turned around, the sub captain asked if he was one of the Safari family. When Win had responded in the affirmative, the captain heaved a sigh of relief and welcomed him aboard the "Battle Sub EX"

"Wait…" said Win, pondering the name of the sub. "Battle Sub?" he asked dubiously. "I thought that the world had no military, and consequently no need for these things."

"Yeah, well…" said the captain, "They kept a few of them around. Mostly to defend the Server Facility in a situation… well, a situation like this," he said disbelievingly.

"Like this?" Win asked.

"Haven't you heard, kid?" he asked, incredulously. "We're under martial law. A code-red state of emergency has been declared."

"Oh, geez…" said Win. "That sounds serious," he said, looking down.

"Yeah… if it wasn't serious, we'd never be using battle subs to transport the VIP's and their families. Speaking of which, your father… I mean, the director is due to come aboard soon, right?" the captain asked.

"Yeah, 'the director' will be here soon," said Win. "The Director…" how dignified those words sounded. Win feigned that he'd never be able to look at his father the same way again.

As Win mused, however, his HUD flashed and a cybernetic alarm rang in his ears, signaling that it was time for the sub to leave. Right on schedule, Win's father and mother showed up at the door, followed closely by Giovanni and Bruto, both of whom were followed closely by their sons. With the grim party of VIPs assembled, the sub captain yelled an unnecessary "all aboard," and Win felt a lurch as the heavily armored sub was released from the docking clamp. As the transport picked up speed, Netto had struck up a conversation with Giovanni.

"…I knew that there was a possibility of an attack, but I never fathomed that they'd force us to evacuate because of it," his father was saying when Win began listening. "I'm so sorry to have dragged you into all of this, Giovanni. I know that we forced you to leave your beautiful golden aircraft, too, as if evacuating wasn't enough."

"Oh, dear sir, please!" said Giovanni, becoming slightly animated as he spoke. "No apologies are necessary! I can assure you, I was most proud to be of assistance to the facility, and if I must evacuate, then so be it!"

"_You_ weren't of any use to the facility, old man," Win muttered under his breath. "It was your son that helped."

Not hearing Win's last comment, however, Giovanni continued. "And besides, _The Future_ has a homing device. All I have to do is command it to return home with my Pulse Band, and off it goes!" he said excitedly.

"You know, I couldn't bear to tell him…" said a voice in Win's ear which he recognized as Maxey's, "…but they think that the NetDoom Cult tracked _The Future_ to the World Server Facility. That's how they found out where it was, and that's also how they managed to hack into the server."

Win turned to face Maxey. "I told you that the plane was too easily recognized," he said with a halfhearted smirk.

"I just don't see how they could've tracked it, though," Maxey said, shaking his head. "We made so sure that it was jamming all radar signals and Pulse Bands it came in contact with."

"Well, then it's obvious. Someone just took off their Pulse Band and tracked it manually," said Win.

"OH!!!" Maxey's eyes widened. "Of course, you're right! Anything analogue would've worked…" Maxey trailed off, upset at the huge security problem Win had just revealed.

A minute later, the sub lurched again, causing Win to startle and wonder whether their transport had crashed due to the lack of windshield. However, the captain assuaged Win's fears the next moment by announcing:

"All ashore that's going ashore!"

"We're home already?!" Win asked, a look of incredulity on his face.

"Well, of course," said the sub captain, his voice swelling with pride. "Trips don't take that long when you're traveling at mach 20"

"MACH 20?!" yelled Win and Maxey at the same time. "How could a piece of scrap metal like this go as fast as _The Future_?" asked Win, amazed.

"You'd be surprised what your father can put together, when he has the time" the captain said to the amazed Win.

"DAD?!" Win said, turning to face his father, who had begun to blush slightly. "_You_ built this?!" he asked, his awestruck face looking directly at his embarrassed father.

"Ahem…" said Netto, shifting uncomfortably in his seat for a few seconds before strategically changing the subject. "Let's go home, Win. I haven't seen my own house in years."

Win curiosity wasn't satisfied by his father's diversionary tactics, but he decided to let his question go for a while as he let his father escort the family to the armored car which waited outside the rendezvous location to escort the Safari family home.

Piling into the car alongside his father and mother, Win tried to sit back and relax, but he found this difficult due to the car's lack of windshield.

"On a sub, I can understand it," said Win aloud, "But on a car, no windshield is just crazy!"

"Not really," said Netto in response. "There's a lot less to hit on a car if all the windows are removed, and since this is an armored car, it makes sense to present as little of a target as possible."

Nodding his head in mock understanding, Win sat back in his hard, metal seat and tried to relax as the armored car drove the family to their house. With no windshield, Win couldn't even tell where they were, or when they had arrived. The latter was made obvious, however, as the door to the car swung open when it had reached its destination. As Win stepped out of the car, he found his house exactly as he had left it. Upon entering, Win had planned on taking a nice long nap, but he was interrupted on his way to the conveyor to his room when his dad requested his presence in the kitchen.

"Win, I've just received an e-mail from the prime minister," Netto said as his son flounced his way into the kitchen.

"Which said…?" Win asked, pausing for an explanation.

"It says, simply, that for our own safety, we are not to leave the house, and he strongly discourages _you_ in particular from pulsing into the net."

"Fat chance…" Win muttered.

"Yeah, I think that he thought you'd say that, because he also included an intelligence update, which says that official Navigators have located the NetDoom Cult's server homepage, but that they were repulsed by many waves of defensive viruses. He even gives out the IP address."

"Alright!" said Win, a fire returning to his soul for the first time since the party. "There must be some sort of clue as to the whereabouts of the NetDoom Cult in that server, so I'm going to check it out."

"I think that that's exactly what the prime minister wanted, because he added as a postscript:

"P.S. If your find out anything, call me on the secure emergency channel."

"Alright!!!" Win yelled. "See ya, I've got a NetDoom Cult to stop!" said Win as he turned to run away to his room.

"Wait one more second, the PM said one more thing!" yelled Netto.

"What is it?" asked Win, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Intelligence has figured out what the NetDoom Cult master plan is."

"No way!!!" yelled Win incredulously.

"Yes," said Netto. "Ms. Micro and Veronica Worthingham both confirmed it separately during their respective interrogations."

"Ok," said Win, nodding. "But what are they plotting?"

"According to Ms. Micro and Veronica, the sporadic terrorist attacks perpetrated by the NetDoom Cult were little more than diversions."

"Pretty intricate diversions," commented Win dubiously.

"Yes, that was part of the plan all along," continued Netto. "They tried to make the diversions too intricate to seem like diversions. But that's apparently all they were: diversions."

"So, what were they diverting our attention from?" pressed Win.

"According to the sources, the attacks were meant to divert attention from the NetDoom Cult's kingpin and head programmer, a man known only as "EndGame," who has been apparently working on a huge virus which will consume the net and end society as we know it."

"Why couldn't they have found out sooner?!" asked Win.

"I don't know," said Netto. "From what I heard, it took a really colossal amount of coercion to get them to talk that much… anyway, this virus is known as the "LifeGel" virus: a virus with the consistency of jelly which destroys anything it gets it's slimy paws on. So, while you boost off to raid that server, keep a lookout for beta versions of it. If it gets on you…" Netto paused here to draw a grave, slow breath. "You'll _die_."

"DIE?!" Win yelled, unable to believe what he was hearing. "As in, really _die_?"

"Yes, as in really _die_. If it gets on your Navigator, it will suck it's energy dry, and then when the Navigator is deleted, it'll suck the Pulse Band dry. Then…" Netto paused gravely. "Then… once the Pulse Band is drained, the body comes next, and…well, you'll puke if you hear the rest," he concluded.

"Oh, man…" Win said, sitting down at the kitchen table and trying to wrap his head around the concept. Hitherto, the worst thing that could have happened to Win would've been his Navigator getting deleted. But actually _dying_ from a virus… somehow, it seemed to add a whole new level of gravity to the situation.

"Well…" Win began slowly, "I don't like the prospect of dying…" he admitted. "But I can't just stand idly by and allow the NetDoom Cult to delete the net and everything connected to it with this virus. Who knows how many will die if it is allowed to spread to the net?"

Netto brushed a tear from his eyes. "You know, Win, you have the heart of a true hero. A lot of other people would've just played it safe and not gotten involved," he said, choking back tears.

"I'm already involved," said Win. "I've been involved since the beginning. I don't know how I got involved…I don't think I even wanted to. But if I back away now, it's worse than simply not getting involved in this mess…" Win paused here, looking for words. "If I back away now, after I've come this far…well…I'd just be a coward," he concluded, not quite sure if his message had come out right.

Netto sniffled again. "You remind me so much of me when I was younger…"

"?" Win asked. It was seeming more and more like his dad had had an unusual past which had been kept a secret from Win, just like so many other things.

"I'm sorry," said Netto recovering. "Don't mind me; I'm just an old man, lost in his reminiscences."

"Old man? You?" Win said, looking at his father, who couldn't have been a day over 35. "You're not old, but you act ancient!"

Netto laughed at this, just like he always did at Win's sarcastic comments. Then, as Win turned to leave and raid the server, Netto addressed Win one last time.

"Win," he said softly.

"What?" Win asked, turning around once more.

"Remember, you're not alone in this fight. I still have a server farm to run, but if you turn up something in that NetDoom server, I can help you decipher it."

"Thanks, dad," said Win over his shoulder. "That's good to know."

With this final line said, Win took the escalator up to his room and pulsed into the NetDoom server.

"Pulse In: Win Safari Execute! Transmit: IP: 638:366:6 (Which spells Net:Doo:m in phone text, Win noticed).

Color and space blurred for a brief while, and Win eventually materialized in a very dark, suspicious-looking cyberworld.

The NetDoom server looked like a broken holographic projector in appearance. The background was simply visual snow, which flickered occasionally and provided very little light. The ground looked no more stable than the wallpaper, as it too would flicker often. Wondering whether this instability was the work of the LifeGel virus, Win advanced his Navigator slowly thought the cyberworld. No data towers or maze-like connection pathways were to be found: the layout was unexpectedly plain. The server, in fact, had only two distinguishing features. The first of those were a series of cyber-containment capsules, the which contained blue gel-like substances, which Win guessed must be LifeGel Viruses. As his Navigator passed each containment capsule, Win expected the cyber-security to shatter at any second and release the deadly virus on him. However, to Win's relief, none of the security capsules released their deadly contents; but Win loaded his WaterSword Battle Drive just in case he had to fend off an attack long enough to pulse out.

Second of the server's distinguishing features was a small, shiny piece of data, which looked like it had been dropped by a previous visitor to the server. Thinking it could possibly be the clue Win was after, he navigated his Navigator over to the shiny data and bent over to examine it. It was clear that the data was a keycard for something, but the text on the card was jumbled in a strange code which Win had never seen before. Still, a dropped piece of data in a NetDoom server might be important, so Win put his hand on it and downloaded it to his Pulse Band. This action had unforeseen consequences, however, as when the data had been completely cut and pasted into Win's Pulse Band, the event he had been fearing all throughout his trip to the NetDoom server occurred.

As he turned to leave, one of the containment capsules containing a LifeGel virus burst; leaking its deadly contents onto the server floor. As the gel absorbed and destroyed the remnants of its capsule, it's emoticon face turned to Win's Navigator.

"Oh, sh**t!" Win said out loud. "Here it comes. I can't let any of this get on me, gotta remember that!"

As such, Win readied the WaterSword and sent the pulse-out command to his Pulse Band. However, to his horror, a message flared in his HUD, telling him that the connection was secure, and he had to exit at the end of the room, where he had pulsed in at. With the LifeGel virus getting close every second, Win was left with very little time to think, and also very little room for error. With the LifeGel now practically on top of him, Win did the only thing he could think of: RUN!

To accomplish this goal, Win cranked up his Navigator's rocket-powered HoverShoes, got a running start, and then did a boost jump over the gel. However, the LifeGel was too smart a virus for this kind of tactic, as it sent up a large spire of gel which forced Win to beat a hasty retreat back to the ground. As he went down, Win took a tentative swipe at the gel-spire, just to see if he could cut a path through the virus. The LifeGel proved to be too good for this kind of strategy too, however, because it latched onto Win's sword and began to pull the terrified boy in like a fish. Win just barely had time to detach the sword from his arm, and he beat a hasty retreat as he watched the LifeGel ingest his trusty WaterSword. However, Win noticed that in order to ingest the sword, the virus had to stop moving and concentrate all of its energy into draining the life out of its Battle Drive victim. Seeing this as his chance, Win ran by on the virus's blind side and made it safely to the end of the room, where he could safely pulse out. Before he did so, however, Win loaded the Battle Drive for a Galactic Bomb and lobbed it into the narrow cutoff point between the server and the secure connection. The detonation of the bomb shattered the rest of the containment capsules, but it also left a very clear rift between the connection and the server floor, cutting off all the LifeGel viruses and preventing them from spreading to the rest of the net. With his mission accomplished, Win pulsed out of the net.

Feeling all over himself for a moment to make sure he was really real, Win rushed downstairs, a triumphant smile on his face. As he flew down the conveyor belt and into the kitchen, his father looked away from his HUD and said:

"Well, I can see you succeeded."

"Yeah..." said Win, panting out of breathlessness. "It wasn't easy, though. I had to fight a LifeGel virus and everything."

"What was it like?" asked Netto. "I want to transcribe your description and e-mail it to the Prime Minister, since you're the first one to face it. It'll give the officials some context."

"Okay…" said Win, clearing his throat.

For almost a quarter of an hour, Win described his encounter with the LifeGel virus to his father, going into explicit detail about its appearance, its movements, and most of all, how exactly it went about sucking the life out of its prey. When Win had finished talking about it and Netto had e-mailed the conversation to the Prime Minister, Win suddenly remembered the shiny piece of data which he had gone through so much trouble to retrieve.

"Project it," instructed Netto after Win had finished describing the shiny bit of data. "Let me look at it; I might just know what it is."

Win obligingly fumbled in his pockets for a few seconds, searching for the holographic projector attachment. When he had found it and clipped it into the correct slot, Win sent a thought to the band, telling it to project the last bit of data he had downloaded. After a few seconds, the image of the small, shiny cube flickered to life, and Netto leaned close to it, studying it intently.

"Hmmm…" he said out loud.

"Do you know what it is?" Win asked.

"Well…" he said, extracting a small magnifying glass, "It looks an awful lot like a one-time use MetroLine pass. But it's not like any I've ever seen before… the text is all written in code."

"Yeah, I noticed that," said Win, scratching his head. "Can you decipher it?" he asked.

"Possibly…possibly," Netto said slowly, obviously trying to concentrate. "The code is all unusual characters from an obsolete programming language from the PET age, so I should be able to read it. Let's see, the first line is one word… M…E…T… ok, obviously the first line says MetroLine. Second line is four words…" Netto paused, mouthing the letters as he put them together into words. "ONE…TIME…USE…PASS…that makes sense, 'MetroLine: one time use pass.' Third line is a little trickier, cause it has six words… DESTINATION…NET…DOOM…CULT…SECRET…BASE…!!!" Win's father let out an exclamation; a cry of pleasant surprise.

"MetroLine: One Time Use Pass. Destination: NetDoom Cult Secret Base!" he cried, slapping his hand on the table triumphantly.

"What does it mean?" asked Win.

"It means…" said Netto, calming himself down, "that this shiny bit of data will take us to the NetDoom Cult secret base from any MetroLine station in Server City! Win, you've given the government the key to foiling the NetDoom Cult!"

Win looked surprised and honored at the same time. However, one doubt lingered in his mind, and he vocalized it.

"Waaait a minute," he said slowly, his voice tone more than a little dubious. "I found this discarded. Doesn't that mean that it was probably used and thrown away? It is a 'one time use pass,' after all."

"Oh, psssh," said Netto with a wave of his hand. "I can reset it easily. In fact, I…" Netto trailed off, apparently thinking better of what he was going to say.

"I?" pressed Win.

"Oh, don't tell anyone, but I always used to reset my one-time-use MetroLine passes to save money."

"You?" Win asked, mockingly. "A government official? You should be ashamed of yourself!" he said sarcastically.

"I know, I know," said Netto, his voice wavering. "_I'M SORRRRRYYYYYYY!_" he whined, mock-crying.

After he and Win had finished laughing at the joke, Netto turned his attention to the HUD in his left eye.

"What'cha doing?" asked Win.

"E-mailing the Prime Minister," his father responded. "He needs to hear about this."

Netto did not have to wait long for a response, however, as about thirty seconds after he had sent the e-mail, the PM himself called Netto personally.

"Hello?" asked Netto, focusing on his own left eye. "Yes, all right… hold on," he continued, attaching his own holographic projector to his Pulse Band. The Prime Minister flickered to life in miniature a moment later, and to Win's surprise, he began addressing the boy.

"Am I on yet?" he asked Netto.

"Yes, you are 'on speaker' sir," said Netto.

"Good," he said, nodding. "I want Win to hear this."

"Me, sir?" Win asked, copying his father and calling the PM "sir."

"Yes. I just received your father's message. Although you've done enough great work already, Win, I'm sorry to say that I must present you with one more task."

"How so, sir?" Win asked respectfully, his lessons in decorum from Maxey coming into full play.

"The truth is, Win," said the Prime Minister gravely, rubbing his temples, "When I told your father that official Navigators were prevented from exploring the NetDoom server because of virus attacks…well, that was a _lie_."

"Oh, no… you don't mean…?" Win said, already guessing at the truth.

"Yes…" the PM said with a dark face. "The officials were not repulsed by viruses… they were killed by those viruses."

"Oh, God…" Win muttered softly.

"So, as such…" the Prime Minister continued, drawing a long, heavy breath, "The government has no Navigators or officials left to attack. So, Win… I'm sure you've guessed my request by now… and the choice is yours whether you accept it or not… but…" the PM paused many times, apprehensive about making such a request of a young child.

"I formally request you to lead the attack on the NetDoom Cult Secret Base," he concluded, speaking each word slowly and painfully, as if each one was an individual stab to his heart.

"Prime Minister…" said Win, also drawing a grave breath. "I accept."

"Thank you, Win… That's all I wanted to know," said the Prime Minister as he closed the connection.

Win sat at the kitchen table for several minutes afterwards, struck with the folly of his decision. "What did I just agree to?" he asked himself over and over. After the fifth repetition, however, Netto interrupted him.

"What have you gotten yourself into?" he parroted. "A fight. And a long, strenuous one, with all the odds laid down against you. And It's a fight where you have more to lose than just your Navigator. But remember what I told you, Win," Netto said, pulling his son's downcast face up and holding it at eye level with his own. "You're not alone in this fight."

"What do you mean?" asked Win, dropping his head once more.

"I mean that _I_ have a formal request for you now."

"What?" Win asked again.

"I want you to call your friends in on this. I want you to call Page, Maxey, Exabyte and Torey in to help you. You don't have to handle this alone."

Win looked horrified. "I couldn't possibly put any one of them into so much danger!" he cried incredulously. "What are you saying?!"

"Alright…" said Netto, completely calm and unfazed. "Leave it up to them. Make it their choice whether they join you and fight or stay home and play it safe. That way, you won't be putting them in danger. They'll be doing it of their own accord," he concluded, patting his son on the shoulder. "And I'll bet you anything that all of them will join you."

"I still don't like the idea…" Win said, looking downcast, "But when you put it that way, I guess it's worth a try." Straightening up, Win sent a command to his Pulse Band, telling it to record a message. When the red light appeared in his HUD, Win began his fateful speech.

"Greetings Page, Maxey, Torey and Exabyte," he began. "I have a very grave request to make of you all." In a few short sentences, Win described the situation as he understood it, telling his friends about the NetDoom plot, the LifeGel virus, and the MetroLine pass.

"With this in mind, I come to the real purpose of the message," he continued, drawing a long breath. "The Prime Minister has asked me to lead the attack on the NetDoom secret base, and I can't fathom how I am going to do it without help. So, I ask you to help me in this last battle against the NetDoom Cult. The choice is yours, of course, and I beg of you to remember that you will be risking more than just your Navigator should you accept, but if you want to join me, meet me at the MetroLine station close to my house at three this afternoon. I'll provide you with copies of the necessary MetroLine passes there, and we'll…well hopefully, we'll take down the NetDoom Cult. If you're coming, see you soon," Win concluded with a grave face as he stopped the recording and e-mailed it to its four intended recipients.

"All right," said Netto. "You've committed, your friends have committed. There's no backing down now. This is… how do you say it… the point of no return." Netto concluded, looking his son squarely in the eye.

"Back down? Now? Not a chance!" said Win, getting himself pumped up. "The only people who won't be returning are the NetDoom operators and their Navigators! This is the endgame for EndGame!" Win said, a noticeable sparkle returning to his eyes.

Netto sniffled again. "You remind me _so _much of me…" he said, wiping a tear from his eyes.

"You keep saying that," said Win, an inquisitive look passing over his face. "What did you do in the past that was so much like me?"

"That's another story for another day," said Netto, regaining his composure. "You'd better go, or you'll be late for your 3:00 appointment."

"Right! I'm off. See you dad!" said Win, blasting out the front door.

"Good luck!" his father screamed as his son slammed the door. "You'll need it…" he added quietly, however, when his son had vanished.

Win blasted down the empty streets, hovering down the sidewalk at speeds high enough to stir up dust and leaves in a sort of wake behind him as he zoomed toward his goal: the MetroLine station which he and Page used to walk to every morning when school used to be in session.

As he blasted up the escalators to the train platform, Win found that his father's prediction had been correct all along. All four of his friends were assembled on the platform, waiting for their leader to arrive.

"Late, as usual," Page said, halfheartedly tying to introduce some humor into an awkward situation.

As a fitting response, Win chuckled halfheartedly at their old joke as he distributed the NetDoom secret base MetroLine passes.

With the distribution of the passes out of the way, Win and the rest filed gravely through the turnstiles, which flashed unusual purple checkmarks as each person filed through. Within a very few minutes, a jet black MagLev train glided silently to a halt, and as the pneumatic doors slid open with a hiss, Win turned to his crowd of friends and asked them all a question:

"You guys _do_ know what we're up against, right?"

"Yeah, we do. But we're all still here," responded Maxey.

"After all, how could we leave the saving of the world to Win and miss out on all the fun?" asked Page. "I think it's time someone else saved _you_, Win Safari."

"Thank you, guys…really, I mean it," said Win, grateful from the bottom of his heart. Then, as he escorted the crowd onto the black train, he mused gravely to himself:

"And so it begins… the greatest battle of our time."

Win stepped across the threshold of the train car, and the pneumatic doors banged shut with a forceful "_**CLANG!**_"


	9. Chapter 9: NetDoom's Endgame!

Chapter 9: Final Battle: NetDoom's EndGame

Silently and smoothly, the black MetroLine tram slid out of the station. As Win watched the scenery flick by at speeds over 500mph, he noticed that the sky was getting increasingly darker with cloud cover. Soon, it began to drizzle. Then, drizzle turned to rain, rain turned to downpour, downpour turned into sleet, sleet turned into large hail, and hail gave way to a blinding blizzard as the MetroLine rocketed further southward down the former continents of North and South America. The rapidly changing weather reminded the grimly pensive Win of the pulse transmission process, as it changed rapidly and had no defined shape or purpose; just like the amorphous mass of colors one saw when pulsing in.

"So, the train is pulsing us into the NetDoom secret base…ha!" Win said with a slightly insane chuckle; his mind having turned bleakly poetic under the stress and gravity of his mission.

"No, I don't think it's pulsing us in…" said Maxey, gazing intently out the tinted windows of the MetroLine train. "I think it's taking us to the south pole."

Win joined Maxey at his window seat vigil, and, considering the scenery outside, he had to agree with his friend's previous comment. Even though the train was over ocean water right now, all that water was frozen solid. Even though the train was nicely heated, Win shivered at the thought of stepping foot in the cold outside in his short-sleeved blue shirt and vest.

Ever-southward the train ran, and ever more blinding the snow became. Win could see that the MetroLine was now ploughing through great drifts of snow that had accumulated on the monorail, and he wondered if the train was robust enough to handle the large drifts. However, his wonderings were cut short, as a sinister automated announcement came over the train PA system.

"HAHAHAHA!" cackled the speaker. "Train arriving…NOW!" it said as the train stopped abruptly and the pneumatic doors slid open with a hiss.

The abrupt stop had had enough force to knock everyone off their feet, and as the group picked themselves up, Win saw a black floating disk rapidly approaching the train.

"Security robot!" he yelled. "Everybody, get down!"

Obligingly, all four of Win's cohorts threw themselves down and wiggled to blind spots underneath the bench seats of the train.

Looking directly at the black security bot, Win sent a thought to his Pulse Band:

"Pulse In: Win Safari Execute! Transmit: Security Robot"

Immediately, Win's vision blurred into a mass of color, and when it solidified, Win found himself looking at a cyberworld much like that of the security bot Win had hacked in his school. Knowing exactly how to deal with this situation, Win loaded a Galactic Bomb and lobbed it straight at the control program. The detonation shattered the program into millions of zeroes and ones, and Win pulsed out before the toppling data towers could squash his Navigator flat.

Returning to the real world, Win saw the bot shudder and fall to the ground in a cloud of smoke.

"That felt good…" Win said, worming his way out from underneath the seat. "I haven't Galactic Bombed anything like that in a long time."

"Well, looks like your hacking skills proved useful after all," said Page, also picking herself up from under the seat.

"Never thought I'd hear you, of all people say that," said Win, surprised.

"Nah… neither did I," admitted Page.

After laughing slightly at this joke, Win's face turned serious.

"All right," he said, addressing the group. "In the base, there will probably be more security bots like this one," he said, stooping to pick up the crackling, smoking disk. "If one starts heading your way," Win continued, "you have two choices: pulse in and hack it before it can sound the alarm, or find a sheltered spot and hide till it passes. Got that?"

Everyone nodded.

"Oh, and for God's sake, if you see a LifeGel virus, pulse out immediately. Do NOT try to fight it."

Everyone nodded again.

"Okay…" said Win, drawing a deep breath. "As they used to say in wars… LET'S MOVE OUT!"

"ROGER!!!" yelled the four cohorts, and, with Win as their leader, the party exited the train to face the perils of the NetDoom Cult secret base.

Exiting the station facility, Win and co. were forced to walk down a large catwalk. Except for a very slight energy field which kept the snow off the walkway, the catwalk was exposed to the open air, and it provided a sinister view of the imposing NetDoom secret base.

The several-hundred story tall base looked like a prison on the outside, with solid gray concrete walls and hardly any windows. As far as shape went, it looked like a gigantic rectangular prism with rounded sides, which seemed to rise directly from the ice sheet below. Atop this prison-like structure, however, was another building which attracted Win's attention more than anything else. A gigantic, white dome (approximately three-times the size of the Battle Dome Revolution) was rather precariously perched atop the facility. Although the height and perspective made it hard to see for certain, Win feigned that he saw an opening in the ceiling of this dome, and it appeared that through this opening was sticking the very tip of a large missile.

"Stop for a second," Win told to his company. Pointing at the dome, Win continued by saying "That's where we're headed."

"All the way up there?" Torey asked, his voice wavering like that of a child who is afraid of heights.

"All the way up there…" said Win gravely. "Come on, let's keep moving. We've got to find an elevator platform that can take us up there."

Win led his company to the end of the exposed catwalk, but he was met by a rather large steel door with a hand scanner when he reached the end. However, no steel door could withstand Win's Galactic Bombing, and the door soon gave way to the destructive Battle Drive. As he wrenched it open, however, Win found a rather unexpected and unwelcome sight.

A corridor full of security lasers awaited the party behind the door. The laser net seemed thick enough to detect any movement from even the tiniest of creatures, and as if it wasn't already complex enough, the lasers moved in random patterns around the corridors to prevent anyone crawling through a hole in the net.

"Well, this is a problem…" said Win, scanning the accessible part of the corridor for clues as to how to shut down the laser net. The side Win was standing on seemed to have no computing technology to pulse into, but, straining his eyes, Win discerned a physical control panel on the other side, which one might be able to access (if they could get over there, that is).

The group, meanwhile, had begun to mill around in the accessible part of the corridor, apparently looking for ways through to the other side.

"Hey, Win! Over here!" said a high-pitched voice, which Win knew to belong to Torey.

Looking in the direction of the voice, Win watched as the small boy bent down and lifted a tiny panel of metal off the right-hand wall. Walking over to the hole left by the panel, Win saw that Torey had found an entrance to a small ventilation shaft. The question was, however, did this ventilation shaft lead to the other side?

"Torey?" Win asked. "Can you fit through this hole?"

Torey looked at the shaft tentatively, sizing it up.

"Yeah, I think I'll fit," he said, cheerful as ever.

"Good," Win said, patting the small boy on the shoulder. "Get in there and see if you can find a way to shut down these lasers."

"Roger!" said Torey, bending down to enter the small hole. With Win's assistance, Torey managed to squirm into the small hole and began moving down the shaft, looking for an exit on the other side of the corridor.

Win waited tensely, gazing intently through the laser net and looking for signs of movement on the wall near the control panel.

"How's it coming?" Win yelled into the shaft after about five minutes.

"I'm about halfway across the room," Torey yelled back. "I can see a little light on my left side at the end of the tunnel."

Win paused to think. Torey's left side in the tunnel would be the outer side of the wall, so that must mean…

"There's an opening at the end of the tunnel, where you saw that little bit of light." Win yelled into the shaft. "When you get over there, push on that part of the wall as hard as you can."

"Roger!" Win heard from the far end of the tunnel. As he gazed intently at the wall on the far side of the corridor, Win saw that a small panel was moving aside, and after a few seconds, a rather grimy Torey squirmed his way out of the tiny shaft.

"Okay!" Torey shouted across the corridor. "One shut-down security system, coming right up!" he said as he accessed the small control panel. A few seconds afterwards, the red lasers flickered and turned off, allowing the party to safely cross over to Torey's side of the corridor.

For a few seconds, Torey was the hero of the group, and everyone congratulated him and rubbed him on the head and so forth. The celebration was prematurely cut short, however, as red lights and alarms began blaring while a synthesized voice yelled out an emergency message:

"Security system failure, level B-50. Intruders detected. Intruders detected. Intruders detected."

"Damn!" Win cursed. "Forget about secrecy…" he said as the door on the other end of the corridor was blasted apart by an automated battle tank. "…just RUN!!!" Win screamed, wrenching the door in front of them open and kicking his HoverShoes into full gear.

Another long corridor awaited the party behind this door, but the group's salvation appeared to be in sight, for at the end of this corridor rested an elevator platform. As Win and the others approached it, however, two heavy steel doors closed in front of it. Seeing as they were being pursued by an automated battle tank (a spherical machine with eight legs and a large tank gun mounted in the very center of the sphere), Win hurriedly pulsed into the door control panel.

In the cyberworld, Win didn't even pause to think, for he loaded a Galactic Bomb and rushed straight at the control program. As he was about to lob the bomb straight into the epicenter of the door's cyberworld, however, the emoticon face of the program began laughing. Not even pausing to think how odd this was, however, Win threw the Galactic Bomb at the floating white cylinder. The bomb never found its target, however, as the program transformed instantly from the shape of a cylinder to the shape of a Navigator, which Win recognized to be the same fiery Navigator he had fought inside the school server. With a smug wave of its cyber-hand, the Navigator sent the destructive bomb rocketing straight back at Win.

"Oh, ****!" cursed Win as he felt the bomb hit his chest and detonate.

Back in the real world, the real Win slouched and fell to the ground. With an automated battle tank bearing down on the band of friends, Page rushed over to the lifeless figure of Win and slapped him hard on the face several times, trying desperately to wake him up.

"WIN!!! WIN!! WAKE UP, WIN!!!" she screamed, shaking the boy with all her might.

The automated battle tank had caught up with the group by now, however, and, aiming its tank gun at Page, it fired a round.

Page screamed and rolled out of the way to avoid the blast, dragging Win along with her. The blast had unforeseen benefits, however, as the tank shell had blown a large hole in the steel door.

"Come on!" Page yelled, getting hoarse from all the screaming. "Through here!" she croaked.

Maxey, Torey and Exabyte didn't have to be told twice, for they all jumped through the hole. Page was the last one to board the elevator platform, as she was dragging the limp body of Win along with her. As the automated tank took aim again, Page swiped the hologram reading "100th floor" with a free hand, and the elevator platform took off not a moment too soon, for Page heard the blast as the tank fired its second round below them.

As the elevator platform sped upwards in the real world, Win had begun to pick himself up in the cyberworld. Loading and using his strongest recovery drive, Win stood up as the hole in his Navigator's chest repaired itself.

"Well," he said to the glowing red Navigator, who had turned its attention towards him once again. "Your tactics haven't changed, I see. You still fight like a coward."

"Hey, if cowardly tactics work, why not? I am evil, after all," said the Navigator, almost bragging about its evil-ness.

"But cowardly tactics don't work," Win retorted mockingly. "I've deleted you once before, or did you forget?"

"No, I didn't forget. You forced me to run my backup program, and it took me a month to get my Navigator back up to speed! You'll pay for that, mark my words!" said the fiery Navigator, his eyes burning with rage.

"Consider them marked," Win said, attempting to load his trusty WaterSword. Unfortunately, Win seemed to have forgotten that his sword had been ingested by a LifeGel virus, and as such, he was forced to load his second-strongest water style Battle Drive: a WaterCannon drive which had last seen use during the attack on the UnderWater Express.

Loading a FireCannon in response, the fiery Navigator primed itself for battle and fired a flaming beam at Win from the cannon.

Win responded by blasting the fiery beam with a concentrated jet of cyber-water from his WaterCannon, which completely doused the fiery beam and hit the fiery Navigator squarely in the face.

Win watched with satisfaction as his opponent's armour evaporated into cyber-steam, and not even bothering to reload his cannon, Win kicked his Navigator's HoverShoes to full speed and smacked the now not-so-fiery Navigator with the full weight of the gun barrel.

The fiery Navigator hadn't even time to scream as it shattered into millions of zeroes and ones. Wiping his hands of his sooty opponent, Win pulsed out.

"WIIIIIINNNN!" Page screamed as the lifeless body's eyes flicked open. "YOU'RE ALIIIIIVE!!!!" she screamed again, tackling the unsuspecting boy with a hug and squeezing him until Win was faced with a choice: suffocate or push Page away from him.

Choosing the latter, Win stood upright and gasped for air.

"Wat' happened?" asked Exabyte.

"Nothing major," said Win, brushing the rubble from his vest. "I just ran into an unexpected delay, that's all."

The elevator platform had alighted on the 100th floor by this time, and facing the party now was another corridor with taupe walls and linoleum floor. This corridor had several tributary hallways, but Win cared not for these, as at the end of the main hallway lay another elevator platform, which would undoubtedly lead the company on to the 200th floor and the white dome.

Not unexpectedly, however, when Win and co. approached the platform, another large steel door rose from the floor to bar their access.

"Well, I guess I've gotta do this one more time…" Win said, thinking the requisite Pulse-In commands as he spoke.

Upon entering the cyberworld, Win was met with a scene much like the last door; no traps or mazes, just a program in the middle. However, wary of unguarded programs after his last NetBattle, Win gingerly approached the white cylinder. As he expected, the program morphed into a Navigator upon Win's approach, and Win recognized that it was the green giant that Win had had to fight once before in the Hologo-Land server. Not even bothering to engage in the comic-book style banter that these NetDoom Navigators were so fond of, Win simply sent a short SMS to Maxey, asking him to pulse into the door.

Maxey appeared next to Win a few seconds later, and upon noticing the large, green Navigator, he took a step backwards in fear.

"Don't worry, Maxey, I've got a plan that can finish off this guy in thirty seconds, but I need your help to pull it off," Win said quickly.

"Tell me what to do," said Maxey back, ready to help.

For a few seconds, Win leaned over and whispered in Maxey's Navigator's ear. While they were whispering, however, the green Navigator loaded the same VineWhip drive that he'd used in his previous battle with Win, and Win loaded the same AquaShield drive he'd used to counter.

"Now!" Win yelled to Maxey as the Navigator began absorbing the water from Win's shield. With a nod, Maxey loaded an ElectroSword Battle Drive and charged the green giant, striking it squarely in the leg.

Even though the cut only grazed the surface, the attack had the desired effect. The Navigator shuddered and fell over, twitching for a few seconds from the electricity before shattering into millions of zeroes and ones.

Upon pulsing out, Win and Maxey found their path unblocked, and the two boys escorted the other members of the party onto the elevator. Win and Maxey followed quickly thereafter, and Win swiped the holographic "200th floor" button once he was safely aboard. The elevator responded instantly, sending the party rocketing skyward once more. Through the exterior windows in the shaft, Win could clearly see the white dome above them. Upon closer inspection, Win saw that his vision had not lied when he and the group were down on floor B-50. A missile warhead was most definitely sticking out of the ceiling in the white dome, and Win could only guess that that missile was loaded with the program for the most current edition of the LifeGel virus.

"We've got to stop that missile from launching," Win said to the group, pointing up at the top of the dome. "I don't know exactly what's in there, but I'm pretty sure that if it hits its target, we can kiss Net Society as we know it goodbye."

"How do you suggest we stop it?" asked Page, staring intently at the missile.

"No idea," said Win with a shrug as the elevator platform alighted on the 200th floor; dome level, with a cybernetic "ding!"

Despite its large floor space, the inside of the dome was unexpectedly barren. Almost no equipment was set up in the sterile, white building; however, the few things that were present sent a chill down Win's spine.

Commanding attention in the very center of the dome was the large missile which Win had seen the tip of from outside. The large, white, cone shaped rocket was perched upon a small launch pad, and from the looks of things, it was ready to launch at any time. At the foot of the launch pad was a large desk, cluttered with tiny bits of circuitry and broken chips and battle drives. A tall, black-coated figure, wearing a high collar, a broad hat and sunglasses, was seated at this desk; looking intently at something in the very center. Upon the arrival of the elevator platform, however, he stood, walked over to the group, and made a sweeping bow.

"Welcome, Win Safari…" he said, pausing to unleash an eerie cackle. "I'd beg you to make yourself at home, but I'm afraid that a pressing issue (he pointed at the missile) must curtail my hospitality," he said with a low, eerie voice which reminded Win of the voice of a stereotypical ghost.

"You…" said Win with disgust. "You're EndGame, aren't you?"

"That's right…hee…hee…hee…" the black-coated figure said, unleashing another eerie cackle.

Win's skin turned cold at the sound of EndGame's voice, but he forced himself to stand tall and oppose his enemy.

"Why are you doing all this?" Win asked with the purity and innocence of a small child. "The NetDoom Cult, the terrorist attacks, the LifeGel virus… what's the point of it all?"

Even through the high collar, hat and sunglasses, Win discerned EndGame's face darken at his question.

"I do it because the net itself is an enemy…_the_ enemy. It is the enemy of all that is right and good on this screwed up planet," he said, pacing the floor in front of the platform.

"But that doesn't answer my question," insisted Win. "Why? What did the net ever do to you?"

EndGame became animated with rage at this question. Floating over to Win on his own HoverShoes, the black-coated man began to scream in Win's face.

"WHAT DID THE NET EVER DO TO ME?!" He yelled, his voice shrill with anger. "What did it ever do to me?" he repeated, more softly. "It betrayed me, that's what it did…" he said in a whisper, as if the memories that Win's question had brought up were too horrible to bear.

"How?" Win asked simply, trying halfheartedly to soothe the savage beast in front of him.

"HOW?! You of all people should know!" he said, grabbing Win around the neck in one sudden swoop. "You, the son of the man who betrayed me…" he said, releasing Win and lowering his voice to a whisper once again.

"What?" Win asked in disbelief upon his release.

"Oh, don't annoy me with so many QUESTIONS!!!" EndGame screamed.

"Wow… I've known bi-polar people before, but this guy takes the cake…" Win muttered under his breath.

"Almost twenty years ago…" EndGame continued, apparently momentarily recovering from his screaming fit. "Just as the PET age was drawing to a close, there was a great schism in technological research. One branch planned to make the net a virtual reality experience, where a user would only have to think in order to navigate the net. The other, however, planned to meld net and reality as one, through technological implants in a person's body that would basically make all humans walking computer terminals. You can see which one won out…" EndGame said, his voice shaking with angry bitterness. "That accursed Netto Safari, who was the head of the virtual reality project, won all the government funding, leaving me with nothing! _NOTHING!!!_" EndGame continued, succumbing to his rage once more. "My BioSoftware research was vital! _VITAL_! And yet, the world government told me that research of the kind I was doing endangered the human species, and as such, they pulled my funding! They never knew how close they were to having a super-human, enhanced by technology to the point of being a sentient CPU…" here, EndGame trailed off again.

"But…" Win began tentatively. "wouldn't the only reason to design a super-human be for destruction?"

"SHUT UP!!!!" EndGame screamed. "You sound just like the government when they pulled my funding! But I never gave up… I continued my research and turned myself into the world's first technologically integrated super-human. Once I destroy the world's feeble net by infecting the three satellites in geosynchronous orbit with this lovely missile, then there won't be anyone who can stop me from implementing _MY _research!" EndGame concluded, taking off his hat and throwing it on the ground.

Win nearly vomited at the sight of EndGame's head. Instead of hair, the head was coated in chips and circuitry, which looked like they had been stuck directly into EndGame's brain.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a net to destroy," said EndGame as he bowed and turned to walk back to his desk.

"I won't let you!" Win yelled at the back of EndGame's gruesome head. "A society like the one you want is way too dangerous. The current net has a lot of good features; helpful features that keep the world connected and integrated! I won't let you take that all away!" Win yelled feverishly.

EndGame cackled again. "Hee…hee…hee… you couldn't possibly stop me! Even if you managed to manually override the system using the control panel on the far side of the launch pad, you'd still have to shut the electronics in the missile down. And if you tried to do that…hee…hee…hee… you'd run into a few surprises!"

"Your overconfidence just betrayed you!" Win said with a new glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Listen to me," he said, drawing his company into a huddle. "Page, Exabyte, I want you two to manually override the missile from that control panel that EndGame just mentioned. Maxey, Torey and I will pulse in and shut down the missile's electronics. Got that?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good," said Win. "Now, let's go!"

"Roger!" whispered the four other members of the group.

As Page and Exabyte snuck around to the far side of the launch pad, Win, Maxey and Torey floated over to EndGame's desk.

"All right, EndGame! Do your worst, we're Pulsing In and not coming out until we have ourselves one out-of-commission missile!"

"Hee…hee…hee…" EndGame cackled. "Delete the rest of that sentence after "not coming out," and you've go the idea," he said as he pulsed in.

"Well, here it goes! The ultimate virus busting battle!" Win thought, bracing himself for one tough fight. "Pulse In: Win Safari Execute! Transmit: Missile CPU!"

As the colors solidified, Win found himself standing in what looked to be a carbon copy of the NetDoom server that he had raided earlier that day; same snowy background, same flickering floor. The missile CPU differed from the server, however, because it only had one large containment tank in the back, as opposed to several smaller ones. Inside this tank, Win discerned a very large and angry LifeGel virus, which was feverishly oozing up against the side of the cyber-wall of the containment field, trying to get to Win and his friends. Standing guard over this imposing virus were four NetDoom Navigators; the three from the attack on the server facility plus the blue one from the train attack.

"Ah, good, a welcoming party…" Win said sarcastically out loud. Turning to his two allies, Win whispered in their ears:

"Don't use any strong blasts or bombs; the shockwaves might shatter that containment tank, and then we'll all be in trouble."

"But Win," Torey's red Navigator said apprehensively. "How are the thee of us supposed to deal with the four Navigators without using strong blasts?"

"Ohhh…crap, that's a good question," said Win, thinking fast. The party needed an extra Navigator; one that really could fight. But they didn't have anything like that…did they?

"Wait!" said Win, his eyes widening as he remembered something. "We might have an extra Navigator!" he said, minimizing the view of the internet to one eye while the real Win dug in his pockets for a certain item. "Crap..." he said after a few seconds of fruitless searching, "I hope I didn't give them back to dad..." His hand struck a hard object the next instant, however, and Win triumphantly extracted his father's blue PET and Battle Chip folder a moment later. As the view in his left eye showed that the four Navigators were priming their weapons for battle, Win hammered the power button quickly and woke up the blue Navi.

"Huh? Win?" the Navi said as it rubbed its large green eyes. "Weren't you supposed to give the PET back to your dad?" it asked.

"Yeah, but never mind that. I need your help in another battle… you up for it?" Win asked of the blue program.

"You bet! Let's rock!" said the Navi back.

"Wow… this technology really is old," Win though as he extracted a length of cable from the PET and searched for a Jack-In port. "It's been years since I heard someone say 'let's rock!'" he mused as he discovered a port at the base of the launch pad.

"Jack in! , Transmit!" Win screamed as he shoved the cumbersome cable into the correct slot.

In his left eye, Win saw the blue Navi materialize next to his own Navigator, and with the four requisite Navigators assembled, Win addressed his Navi:

"Maxey and Torey have got the white and blue/yellow Navigators," he explained quickly. "I can get the solid blue one, so can you get the dark one again?"

"Sure," the blue program responded. "Just load me that 'GunDeSol 3' chip; that's all I should need."

Win obligingly loaded the GunDeSol 3 into the PET, and gave himself a WaterCannon with which to fight the blue Navigator. Upon receiving the golden cannon, the Navi fired a beam of white light at his dark target. The beam hit the black-and-purple Navigator squarely in the arm, causing it to scream a piercing vampire's scream. The Navi's cannon shot was all the provocation the rest of the Navigators needed, as they all rushed at their targets. Switching his focus from the PET to his own Navigator, Win raised his cannon to his onrushing blue foe, switched the cannon to absorb mode, and began to suck the blasts of water his foe was bestowing upon him. As the absorption of water would go on for a bit of time, Win switched his attention back to the PET, where his Navi was holding off the black enemy's purple blade with one hand as he fired blasts of light at the Navigator's head with the other hand. Seeing as the Navi could use a little help, Win extracted another chip from his father's folder and said:

"Here's some help for you, Navi! GunDeSol 2 Battle Chip IN! Download!" Hammering the download button on the PET's screen, Win watched his Navi's other hand morph into another golden cannon, which the program also trained on his foe's head. As the Navi yelled its thanks, Win could feel that his own Navigator was fully charged with water, and, training his focus on his own left eye, Win switched his gun from "absorb" to "blast" mode and…well…blasted his blue foe with the full force of his absorbed water power. As the WaterCannon blast hit his foe, Win watched triumphantly as the NetDoom Navigator shattered into millions of zeroes and ones.

Wiping the sweat from both his virtual and physical brows, Win looked around his net form with his left eye in order to see how everyone else was doing. To his Navigator's left, Win saw that Maxey and his ElectroSword had hacked his blue-and-yellow opponent to pieces, which were all shattering into zeroes and ones. To his right, Torey had fared no worse, for his icy foe lay shattered with a hole in his chest from the small, red Navigator's ZetaCannon. Turning his focus to the PET, Win saw that the Navi had emerged victorious as well, as the black Navigator's health digits were rapidly draining from the damage done by the GunDeSols.

Already tasting the sweetness of victory, Win turned triumphantly to EndGame and said:

"Give it up, EndGame, you've lost!"

EndGame slammed his fist on the desk in anguish. "Oh, no. I haven't lost. You might have deleted all my Navigators, but I still have one more thing UP MY SLEEVE!!!!" he screamed as he ripped a chip out of his head. Win let out a cry of horror and disgust as his face was splattered with blood, but before he could puke, his left eye showed that his Navigator was in for a whole second round of trouble.

As EndGame ripped out his BioSoft chip, the containment field around the large LifeGel virus shattered into nothingness. With no obstacle barring its access to Win and his friends, the LifeGel let out a weird cybernetic roar and began oozing toward the turquoise-and-red Navigator as fast as its cyber-pseudo pods could carry it.

"Pulse out!" Win yelled to Maxey and Torey. "NOW!"

"Win, we're staying with you to the end," Maxey said calmly.

"No, please, Maxey, pulse out!!!" Win screamed hysterically. "I don't want to endanger more lives than necessary!"

"Win, listen to me," Maxey said, grabbing and shaking his friend's Navigator. "We've come this far, and we're not leaving you like this. If you die, we die too. End of story."

"Okay," Win said with a resigned sigh. "I guess I can't save you from yourself, but will you at least do me a favor and move back?"

"Yeah, all right, we'll do that much," Maxey said, grabbing Torey's Navigator's arm and moving back to a safe distance.

With only Win and his Navi left in the battle zone, Win momentarily turned his attention to the PET and asked the Navi what the next move should be.

"Well…" said the blue program hesitantly, "I have a plan, but I know that you're not going to like it.

"Any plan's better than none!" Win blurted hurriedly as the LifeGel crept ever closer, draining a hole in the cyberworld as it went along.

"All right," said the Navi, taking a deep breath. "You've gotta step back and let the LifeGel engulf me. While I'm in there, you can load the final GunDeSol chip, and I should be able to finish the virus off with a program advance."

"Oh, God no!" Win yelled. "I couldn't possibly do something that would put you in so much danger!"

"Listen to me," the Navi said, piercing Win with its large green eyes, "It's the only way that this will ever work. And besides, I'm just a program. If the virus destroys the PET, it's a lot better than it killing you."

"All right," said Win gravely, resigned to the fact that this was the only way. Stepping back, he ordered the Navi to commence the plan, and he watched horrified as the blue program ran directly into the path of the oncoming virus. As the blue gel engulfed the Navi, Win extracted the final GunDeSol battle chip, kissed it, crossed his fingers, and shoved it into the correct slot on the PET.

"GunDeSol 1 Battle Chip IN! DOWNLOAD!!!!!!" he screamed with all his might as he touched the download button on the PET's 3" LCD touch screen.

Both the PET and Win's left eye lit up in a blinding flash of white light as the Double Soul Program Advance took effect. A bloodcurdling scream pierced through the white screens, and Win couldn't tell whether it was his Navi or the virus that had made the outcry.

The light began to settle. Win's face tensed. He crossed both his fingers, all his toes, squeezed his eyes shut, muttered a prayer, and opened them again.

The Navi stood before him, clad in the white, angelic armour once more. As it wiped his cyber-brow with the barrel of one of his cannons, Win almost broke down in tears of joy at the sight, and as the wet drips ran down his face, Win talked into the PET and asked:

"Is the virus really gone?"

The Navi said nothing, but pointed with one of his cannons at a small blob on the floor, which was rapidly shrinking in size. As it reached the level of microscopic, the tiny LifeGel virus pulled in energy from the ambient server around it and shattered into the familiar zeroes and ones of deletion.

Win and the Navi both screamed "YESSSSSSSSS!" at the same time once the virus had completely vanished, and as they rushed to give each other a high five, a large cyber-hologram popped up above them. Pausing to inspect the hologram, Win read with relief that the missile launch had been cancelled indefinitely.

Pulsing out and wiping the sweat from his brow one more time, Win gave one last cry of joy and called out to Page and Exabyte on the other side of the launch pad.

"Did you guys access the manual override?" he yelled

"Yea'" Exabyte responded after a few seconds. "Ready when yoo are!" he yelled across the pad.

"Go ahead and release it," Win commanded. "Let's be rid of this darned missile."

"Okay… just a sec…" Exabyte responded. A few heavy grunts echoed around the dome as Exabyte pulled the large manual release lever, but Win did eventually hear a metallic clang, and the missile began sinking into the floor. Climbing up on top of the launch pad, Win saw that the floor panels beneath the missile had moved aside, leaving a large void through which the missile was rapidly falling. Just as the warhead tip was about to vanish into the floor, however, a small hatch opened and ejected a glass container from within. EndGame, who had risen from his desk by this point, began running to try and catch the cylinder. However, the unfortunate man missed his footing as he jumped up on the launch platform, and with a long, piercing scream, the evil boss of the evil NetDoom Cult plummeted to his doom along with his beloved missile.

Win, who had seen the entire spectacle, stood shocked at the foot of the void as he watched the man and missile plummet down into the depths of the NetDoom secret base. In his dazed state, Win didn't even notice that the glass capsule had hit the ground and shattered behind him.

Maxey, who had also pulsed out by this time, stooped to examine the glass fragments, and eventually he extracted a small gold disc from the rubble: a data storage format which had not been used since the PET age. Tapping Win on the shoulder, Maxey asked Win what he thought was on the disk.

"Huh?" said Win, snapping out of his daze. Examining the golden disk Maxey was waving, Win responded "I don't know for sure, but I think that that's the LifeGel virus." Win took the disk from Maxey's outstretched hand. "Better make sure that this doesn't fall into the wrong hands," he said, stuffing it into his pants pocket along with the PET, which he was still clutching with his left hand.

As Win descended from the launch pad to join his friends, however, the entire group was knocked off its feet as a huge explosion shook the NetDoom secret base to its foundation.

"That would be the missile…" Win said sarcastically. "That's just great… how do we get out of here now?"

Page pointed to the elevator platform, but as if her finger held some dark force in it, a beam fell loose from the dome's ceiling and smashed the elevator platform to pieces.

"Great, now there are even fewer ways out!" Win said, his voice tone turning a tad hysterical. The dome didn't look like it was holding up very well against the vibration. The lights were flickering, beams and lights were falling and smashing on the floor, and Win had to pull everyone out of the way as one of the major load-bearing supports gave way and fell in on the launch pad.

As it was clear to Win that he and his friends were going to get squashed flat in the collapsing dome if they stayed in much longer, Win looked frantically around him. His searching was cut short, however, as the lights flickered and went out. Now completely helpless, Win almost jumped a foot as another structural support fell in with a boom. However, this latest beam had cut a large gash in the dome's wall, and, seeing no other way out of their doom, Win picked up everybody and began to run towards the gash, holding onto everybody's slippery hands with all of his miniscule strength.

As he was halfway to his destination, the dome began to completely collapse. Forgetting about running, Win kicked his HoverShoes to 120% and flew towards the light. Ten more steps…five more steps… and then immersive light as Win blasted his way out of the dome seconds before the remaining structural supports gave way.

Outside the dome, Win found himself with a new problem. With his HoverShoes turned up to such high speeds, Win had no way of stopping on short notice, and as such, he was rapidly running out of roof. However, since there seemed to be one: no way to stop, and two: no other way out of his predicament, Win did the only thing possible under the circumstances: Holding everyone's arms as tight as he could, Win jumped off the roof of a 250 story building.

As everyone else screamed and yelled while they dealt with their first experience of uncontrolled freefall, Win was thinking like mad, commanding his Pulse Band to do many things it was reluctant to do. As Win basically hacked his own Pulse Band, a small meter in his HUD showed that the Hover Boosters on his HoverShoes were working at overload-capacity. A small percentage meter showed that the shoes were working at 200%.

"NOT ENOUGH!!!" Win grunted as he forced the shoes to go higher.

250%...

The base behind them rocked with a huge explosion as rubble and concrete blocks whizzed by the falling Win.

300%...

Five or six more explosions blew more holes in the base as Win and his cargo fell below the 100th story.

350%...

Rubble showered the falling five and Win swerved to avoid a large chunk of concrete and steel.

400%...

Win could hear the motors squealing on his shoes as he forced his shoes to produce more power than they were ever designed to.

450%...

Even more explosions blew apart the base as Win fell down past the 50th story.

500%...

The motors were absolutely screaming on Win's poor, overworked shoes as the freefalling group rapidly approached the open air catwalk.

Win closed his eyes tightly, praying over and over that his shoes would break the fall.

"WARNING!" flashed his HUD. "IMPACT IMMINENT IN FIVE SECONDS! 4…3…2…"

"Moment of truth…" Win though, opening his eyes and forcing himself to watch the ever approaching ground.

"1…IMPACT…NOW" the HUD concluded. Win shut his eyes once more and, with the full strength of every muscle in his body, he stretched his legs out and extended his shoes out towards the floor, hoping…nay, praying that the overworked Hover Boosters would break the fall.

SMACK! SMACKSMACKSMACKSMACK!

Win and his four friends hit the ground hard. In fact, they hit the ground very hard. However, Win's shoes had come through, just as he had thought they would. Although everyone was sprawled out on their stomachs with intense pain in all their joints, nothing had gotten broken or dislocated, and all five kids were very much alive after a 250 story fall.

"Ooohhhh…that…hurt…" Win groaned as he picked himself up. Looking down at his shoes, Win saw that the motors in his beloved footgear had completely burnt out. However, lamenting his shoes was the least of Win's worries, as a series of explosions rocked the base of the 250 story building. As Exabyte, Page, Torey and Maxey all began to rise from the floor, the building began to fall in on itself in, to use a demolition term, a pancake.

As the five watched horrified as the building collapsed in on itself, Win grabbed everyone's hands again and screamed a famous line often used in movies:

"RUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

Dust and smoke and rubble followed hot on the group's tail as the band of children ran at speeds that would've shamed Olympians down the open catwalk, through the turnstiles, and into the black MetroLine train. A moment after the doors on the Monorail had closed, the cloud of dust and grime caught up with the group, and not a moment too soon, the train shot out of the station seconds before a tumult of rubble crushed the station to dust.

As the train picked up speed, Win and all the others rushed to the back window to see the aftermath of the base's collapse. Nothing remained of the 250 story complex: instead, a mushroom cloud of dust and rubble twice that height had risen in tribute to the fallen NetDoom Cult.

Completely relieved and indescribably happy, Win fell back into a bench seat and said with a huge sigh of relief: "Well, that's over. HA!" Win laughed a clear, bright laugh, which filled the entire train car. However, Win found himself unable to stop. Perhaps it was the relief, perhaps it was the accomplishment, perhaps it was disbelief, but whatever the emotion, Win laughed himself hoarse. Before long, everyone else had joined in, and the group was rapidly laughing themselves into tears. Even in tears, nobody stopped crying, but they let their tears roll until they had almost completely drained themselves emotionally.

Sniffling, Win headed to the front car of the train and, with his red eyes, Win watched the snowy scenery turn into hail, then to sleet, then to downpour, to drizzle, and then finally settling with a dazzling night sky complete with aurora lights. Win sat at the head of the train for what he thought was an eternity as he watched the scenery of former South America change to the megalopolis of former North America. In the slew of skyline lights, Win thought that he discerned a familiar shape: the skyline of Server City; the city to replace New York City as the largest city in the former continental United States.

As the train passed into Server City, Win looked on with disbelief as he saw a sight which he had doubted he'd ever see again: the familiar MetroLine station near his own house. The train slowed to a stop, the pneumatic doors hissed open, and Win took his first step back onto hard earth after what seemed like an eternity.

Upon exiting the cursed black MetroLine, Win, Maxey, Exabyte, Torey, and, of course Page faced a wholly unexpected sight. Standing outside the small station platform was a huge crowd: to Win, it looked like all of Server City had turned up to see the young heroes make their triumphant return.

As each child filed out of the train, the crowd screamed his or her name as a huge holographic projector showed a 3-D picture of each of Win's friends. As Win and company waved to the crowd and filed down the escalator, they all shot one another surprised looks. One though was clearly on all their minds: "How did they know about our adventures?"

This question was answered at the foot of the stairs, however, as Win was tackled by hugging parents.

"Welcome back, hero!" Netto screamed in welcome. "I hope that you don't mind the welcoming party I called up."

"Don't mind?!" Win croaked incredulously, hoarse from all the screaming that had taken place in the NetDoom base. "You invited the whole darn city!"

"Yeah, well…" Netto said, tousling Win's already crazy hair, "You deserve it."

"You know, your Navi was more of a hero than any of us back there," Win told his dad. "I never would have gotten this…" Win said, pulling out the golden disc and PET giving both to his dad, "Without his help."

"I knew he would come in handy," Netto said, accepting Win's gifts. "That's why I never asked for it back. But what is this?" Netto asked, tapping the golden disc.

"Only the final version of the LifeGel virus. I made sure to save it and get it to you, so that it didn't fall into the wrong hands," said Win.

"Ohhhh!" Netto exclaimed, looking at the disk in a totally new light. "Thank you, Win! I'm glad you were able to get this to me…I wanted to research it...even though it's a virus, it still is an incredible piece of technology," he said, adjusting his thin glasses and examining the golden disc.

"Well, I guess I'm going to have to say goodbye to you for another year while you study that disc in your underwater laboratory," said a sarcastic voice which Win knew to be that of his mother.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry that I have to leave you for so long and render myself incommunicado…" Netto said, realizing how neglectful he was of his wife.

"Well… now's a perfect opportunity to make up for it," Win's mom said, puckering up her lips.

"Oh, ho ho!" Netto said mischievously, leaning forward to kiss his wife.

The multi-million person crowd responded with an "Awww…" at the kiss. Page, highly observant of Win's parents' behavior, leaned over to Win to say something.

"Your parents make a really cute couple, Win," she said, nudging the unsuspecting boy. "Maybe we should follow their example," she said once she had gotten his attention.

"Huh?" said the piteously clueless Win.

"Oh, you really are dense," said Page, throwing her arms up in the air. "Here, I'll _show _you what I mean."

And then, in front of a crowd of millions of people, Page grabbed Win, drew him close, and gave him a long, dramatic kiss on the lips. The crowd spontaneously applauded at this point, and as Page released Win, the boy looked wide eyed and stunned.

"That's what I meant," said Page, her anime character's eyes sparkling at her poor, clueless boy.

"Wow…" said Win, once he had recovered his composure enough to speak. "That was…was…" Win faltered, suddenly smitten with Page for the first time in his life. "That was fun!" he yelled, embracing Page and diving in for seconds.

"Well!" Page gasped, now surprised herself. "I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other."

"Yeah…" Win said, holding her around the shoulder. "I'd like that."

Out of the corner of his eye, Win noticed Exabyte, who was looking down. Excusing himself from Page for a second, Win walked over to his bully-friend (if such a thing is possible), and attempted to cheer him up.

"What's wrong, Exabyte?" he asked, looking directly into his glum face. "Jealous?"

"No…" Exabyte said softly. "It's just…"

"What?" Win asked cheerfully. "Just what?"

"Win never did battle me!"

THE END!


	10. Epilogue

The Secret Epilogue

To my readers: If you were still wondering about how this ties into the Megaman Battle universe (and missed all the Megaman cameos, which I give you my word are in there), maybe this will shed some light on the situation.

ZAP! ZAP!

Win was woken in his usual rude fashion on the first Monday after his triumphant victory against the NetDoom Cult. Server City Middle School had finally been repaired by this point, and classes had finally resumed on this very same Monday. However, after an exhausting weekend of interviews, autographs and public appearances due to his recent victory, Win was so pooped-out tired that _nothing_; not even shock coils, could wake him up that day. Consequently, the male parent in the household, Netto Safari (who had not yet returned to the World Server Facility) took upon himself the wearisome and sometimes impossible task of waking his son up.

"Wake up, hero," he said. Netto had taken to calling his son 'hero' ever since his victory against the NetDoom Cult. "You don't want to end up like your father and arrive to class late every single day."

As Netto gave this small speech, Win's eyes flicked open. As Netto smiled contentedly, Win yawned and groaned, and, at length, he began to speak.

"Speaking of which…" he paused here to yawn again. "There's still something which I don't get."

"What is it?" Netto asked.

"You," Win said, un-sticking his hand from his mattress long enough to point at his father.

"How so?" the father asked, cocking his head sideways.

"Before I left for the last fight, you kept telling me that I reminded you of a younger you. Not to mention that your Navi called you "Lan" when you first introduced me to him. What is that Navi's name, anyway?" Win asked, speaking directly from his stream of consciousness (or lack thereof at this time in the morning).

Netto's face darkened at his son's question. With a completely different, darker voice tone, he eventually responded to his son's question in a curious way:

"You deserve to know, but I warn you, if I tell you about myself and my Navi, you may never look at me the same way again."

"Oh, cut the drama, I'm not wide awake enough for it," Win said, waving his hand. "Just tell me that Navi's name."

Netto drew a heavy breath. "Megaman…" he muttered

"Huh?" Win pressed.

"The Navi's name is Megaman. And my true name isn't Netto Safari: it's really Lan Hikari."

Win's eyes widened and he fell back in his bed, totally and completely amazed and unable to think. Now, of course, everything made sense. Lan Hikari had once been a famous celebrity; known worldwide for his amazing NetBattling skills and Virus Busting skills. Together with his Navi Megaman, Lan had thrice battled and thrice bested a criminal organization called World Three or the "WWW" for short, he had had a bout with the NetMafia Gospel, and several skirmishes with the terroristic Nebula Syndicate. What was more, however, Lan had done all his battling when he was the same age as Win. Together with his own group of friends (named Maylu, Dex and Yai), Lan and Megaman had rid NetSociety of chaos and crime over and over and over again until he was so well known that he had to go into hiding in order to escape his rabid fans. Even in hiding, however, Lan's exploits were made into movies, TV shows, and multiple videogames, which Win had spent many hours playing. Nobody knew what had happened to him after he hit age twenty, however. He just seemed to mysteriously disappear. "Lan sightings" would occasionally make into tabloids, but other than that, the once-famous boy's location had remained a complete secret.

"M…m…my god…."Win stammered, dumbstruck. "My father…Lan Hikari……how…why…" Win had the acute sensation that the room was spinning, even though he knew that the house was safely anchored to hard ground.

"Yeah," Netto, or rather, Lan continued after Win had calmed down a bit. "The world government decided that it would be best if everyone involved in the World Three incidents went into hiding. So, since I was interested in computing tech and designing a new net, the Prime Minister arranged for me to direct the World Server Facility, and they shipped me over to Netopia…"

"Netopia…???" Win asked, still confused.

"Yes, the world was still divided into quasi-countries when I was a kid. Where we live was called "Electopia," and the former countries of China and Japan were called "Netopia." He clarified. "Anyway, since my Netopian name was "Netto-kun" to begin with, I just had it changed to "Network" in Electopia, and changed "Hikari" to "Safari."

Win blinked in his bed, staring intently at nothing while the world continued to spin.

"Why did you never tell me any of this? I've played your games and watched your movies…why couldn't I know who my father truly was?" Win asked incredulously.

"I did that to avoid…well…_this_!" Lan said, gesturing towards his starstruck son. "I wanted you to have the benefit of growing up without thinking that you had to live up to being the son of a legendary hero…" Lan paused, apparently having thought of something funny. "Of course, you did anyway… _that's_ why I kept saying that you reminded me of me."

Win nodded in understanding.

"Now, I think that I can hear Maylu cooking your breakfast downstairs, so you'd better get going." Lan began anew.

"Maylu…?" Win asked, feigning that he had heard that name before.

"Yes, that's your mother, silly!" Netto…or rather, Lan said. "Of course, you didn't know it, because she changed her name along with me, but Maylu is your mother."

Win smiled smugly to himself, remembering the parts from Lan's movies where his father and his friend Dex would fight for Maylu's affections.

"So…" he said mischievously, "You finally got hitched with Maylu after all, huh."

Netto chuckled quietly and nodded.

"Poor Dex…" said Win mockingly. "Whatever became of him?" he asked his father.

Lan's face darkened and his voice dropped to a whisper. Although it was almost impossible to hear what his father was saying, Win did pick out one word: "EndGame…"

"Huh?" Win asked of his whispering father.

"Oh, it's nothing…" Lan said, straightening up. "Now, you'd better go and eat your breakfast… isn't your own girlfriend waiting?"

"Oh, yeah! Shoot, I forgot what time it is!" Win said, jumping out of bed. "Oh, man, I've gotta get going, or I'll be late for the first day back.

Netto…or rather, Lan whistled softly. "Now there," he said, smiling openly, "is a boy after my own heart."

The Further End


End file.
